VLAFF PROGRAMMERS
During the entire year, VLAFF programmers view films that either were submitted to our festival or that we see in other film festivals. VLAFF opens a Call for Submissions in February to receive films for all of our different sections. In addition, every year festival programmers attend different film festivals that specialize in Latin American cinema such as the Havana, Guadalajara and San Sebastián film festivals.
Christian Sida-Valenzuela is VLAFF’s Artistic Director and has been involved with VLAFF since 2007. He is from Durango, Mexico and came to Vancouver for the first time in 2000. He has been a jury member in prestigious film festivals around the world such as Havana in Cuba, Guadalajara and Morelia in Mexico, Valladolid and Huelva in Spain, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others. In 2012 he was given a recognition by the General Consulate of Colombia in Vancouver for his work in the promotion of Colombian cinema in Canada. Christian also is the head programmer of the Durango Film Festival of New Mexican Cinema in Mexico, where he specializes in films by emerging Mexican directors.
Sections:
New Directors
Panorama of Latin American Cinema
Retrospectives
Special Presentations
Anne-Mary Mullen is a Senior Programmer at VLAFF. She has been involved with the festival since 2008. She grew up between San Francisco and Edmonton and has been involved in the film festival world for many years; she has worked for Tribeca, San Francisco and Sundance Film Festivals in the USA and the Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada. She is an habitué at the ‘’Horizontes Latinos’’ section at the San Sebastián Film Festival in Spain.
Sections:
Canada Looks South
Panorama of Latin American Cinema
New Directors
Bernarda Cornejo is from Ecuador and grew up in a family rooted in strong Latin American traditions. She decided to study Animation at Emily Carr University in Vancouver to combine her craft heritage and worldview. In 2014 she served as a Youth Jury Member at VLAFF and in 2015 she joined the programming committee as the lead Programming Assistant.
Sections:
Panorama of Latin American Cinema
New Directors
Kenya Márquez is from Guadalajara, Mexico and resides in Mexico City. She is the director of the highly acclaimed film Expiration Date (Fecha de caducidad), winner of the Best Film Award at VLAFF 2012. She was the director of the Guadalajara Film Festival in Mexico from 2002 to 2005. Kenya has a special love for short films, and during her time as the director of the Guadalajara festival, she especially dedicated herself to promoting shorts. This is Kenya's third year programming shorts at VLAFF.
Sections:
Short films
Alejandro Gómez Treviño is the programmer of the Cineteca de Nuevo León (Cinematheque), in Monterrey, Mexico. At the Cineteca, Alejandro has developed a large number of film series, including the International Showcase of Queer Cinema, which has been taking place for the last four years. In 2014 he served as a juror at Mexico's National University Film Festival (FICUNAM). This is Alejandro's first year with VLAFF.
Sections:
Short films
Luna Marán is from Oaxaca, Mexico. She has directed six short films and is in the developing stage of her first feature-length documentary, Tío Yim. She is one of the founders of the Campamento Audiovisual Itinerante (Travelling Audiovisual Workshop), which takes place in the mountains of Oaxaca during three weeks every July. This is Luna's second year programming for VLAFF.
Sections:
Indigenous Film from BC & Beyond
Sonia Medel was born in Vancouver to Chilean-Peruvian parents and fell in love with Latin American cinema in high school, thanks to her VLAFF enthusiast godmother. She is the co-founder of the dance group AfroVibras Perú. In 2013 she served as a Youth Jury Member at VLAFF, and in 2014 became the Community Partnership Coordinator. This is Sonia's first year on the programming committee.
Sections:
Indigenous Film from BC & Beyond