Nov 30, 2022

Seven promising Latina directors to keep an eye on.

The next generation of Latin directors have ambitious goals for their art and always move their projects forward At Ventana Sur, which is currently being held in Buenos Aires, you will find a handful of the most exciting Latin animation filmmakers who twist their trade today – short, feature, series, pilot, etc.

According to the Quirino Awards White Book (PDF download), of the nearly 300 feature-length animated films produced throughout history in Latin America, fewer than 20 were directed by women alone, and even fewer were from mixed-gender teams.

These figures are not consistent with modern sensibilities about gender equality in filmmaking, but reflect a reality that needs to be addressed. According to a 2021 study conducted by Mujeres en el Mundo de la Animación (MUMA), more than 86% of female animation workers are under the age of 35, and 85% of Mexican women working in animation want to get the position of creative director. But these figures are not reflected in the works from Latin America today.

However, thanks to the general increase in opportunities present in the Latin American animation industry and initiatives from several well-known festivals, such as Ventana Sur's animation tutoring program. (Argentina) and Pixelatl's Girl Power: Pitch Me The Future (Mexico), new female talents are slowly making their way and establishing themselves in the industry.

Here we selected 7 young female filmmakers as examples of the skills and leadership that will exist in the next generation. No one has yet to direct the function, but they are fighting every day to bring their vision to the screen.

Julia Conde, a graduate of the University of Cinema (Buenos Aires), made her directorial debut with a student short story Espinas, which was screened at several international film festivals and proved that stop Motion was her specialty.

In addition to working with puppets, Conde also works as an animator for advertising, documentaries and series.

But her greatest achievement is to combine a passion for stop-motion animation with a Latino trap. She has collaborated with several artists in this area, including a short of mixed media for producer Bizarrap; trailer for Singer Blessd's latest album, her three recent video clips made in collaboration with artist LIT killah Jungle, My Bag, Dejame Tranki. These music videos combine several animation techniques, and the last one became Conde's biggest hit, with more than 30 million views on Youtube.

Given her success so far, we can confirm that the road from Conde is going further in the future.

Chilean director, illustrator and cartoonist Fernanda Frick jumped into the international scene with her fourth short film, Here's the plan, finally qualifying for the 2017 Oscars, and later making its online debut as part of Cartoon Brewing's CB Fest.

That same year, her series project Raise The Bar caused a stir with animations for Pixelatl and later Ventana Sur. She won one of the 1 MIFA Awards for the Buenos Aires-based market. In 2018, the project was named one of the first animated series bets from Latin America by netflix, and the platform later decided not to continue, but Flick agreed to turn the project into a graphic novel, which will be published by Dial/Penguin Random House in 2023. It is expected to be. Following Trazos in 2019, it will be her 2nd graphic novel.

In her series project IRL Squad, Flick was once again invited to animation. And won an invitation to the pitch in a strange market in Spain. Currently, Frick's FFrick Studio is working on adapting the plan as a picture book and is developing two mini-series projects: What if I don't - (2d Digi

González, who completed her paper short Tiny Snout and The Hare Migration (Trompita y la migración de liebres), is a veteran screenwriter. Did not wait long to start a more ambitious project with Luz Marquez.

El after del mundo tells the story of Flúor and Carlix, two ghosts in comfortable sports clothes.

After making her debut at Apa Lab (Córdoba, Argentina), González and her team were named Short Way, a program of auteur shorts organized by the Mexican Association Pixelatl. To finance the trip to Mexico, the team launched a crowdfunding campaign that proved a worthy effort that won them a victory and an invitation to the Mifa market in Annecy.

On a premise surprisingly suited to the pandemic, Short impressed French judges, producers and executives, winning the Arte France award and attracting the attention of production agency Autour de Minuit. It was screened in Sitges, Spain this year, with its Asian premiere in Bucheon, and screened at the Uppsala International Short Film Festival on May 10.

Born in Bolivia, awarded in Argentina and adopted in Germany, Matisse Gonzalez is one of the most exciting talents in the field of minimalist animation 1. With her student short "Gravedad" and cartoon Network Latin American pilot "Era Solo Una Roca Que Se Parecía A Alguien" (winner of Girl Power2: Pitch Me the Future at Pixelatl), the director has shown great maturity in the industry.

Today, Gonzalez is dedicating her energy to her first film Condenaditos, which was chosen for the first tutor Call hosted by Animation. I pitched at Annecy 2021, at Bentanashur.

With its unique 2d aesthetic, the film turns a family whose members are affected by a curse passed down from generation to generation. Kiki, the youngest daughter who is skeptical of the curse, sets out on a journey to find a cure. The film is a comedy for adults with autobiographical shades and mixed animation techniques.

Stop Motion animation is a serious business, especially in Brazil, where Camila Catter has worked as an animator, art director and puppet maker in productions such as Apple The Trial (2013), Flirt (2015) and Indescribable (2020). You had the good fortune of being part of the process.

Kater also directed Short Meat (Carne), an animated Doki that offered many stories at 2021's 250 festivals screened before qualifying for the Academy Awards

The short, produced by lívia Perez (Doctela) and Chelo Loureiro (Abano Produción), is a film about a person's own body and their own body. It features the testimonies of five women who reflect on the larger society around them. Each story is animated using different techniques.

Connie Miranda, better known as Carosita on social media, is one of the co-founders, alongside Bruno Igera and Fernanda Vasquez. The main goal of the studio, no matter what, is to produce the first animated series.

One of the most promising projects in their catalog 1 is El Talismán de Sunny, an adventure about a trio of geek friends from a fantastic age. The project was chosen to pitch in Chilemonos 2020 and Pixelatl's Girl Power: Pitch Me The Future, among others.

However, they took the first big step towards the realization of their dream on May 2, when the Chilean government awarded funding for their animation project Brad The Bad Guy.

During the early years of her career, Sylvia Prietov could not find her place in the Colombian market. After studying at Vancouver Film School, he founded Lucy Animation Studio and created his own, which managed to attract the attention of clients including Marvel, TED, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Apple TV, Sony Music and Netflix.

Along with Luisa Velázquez, she also created a pilot titled Astro Packers for Cartoon Network Latin America. The winner of Pixelatl's Girl Power3: Pitch Me The Future, the pilot tells the story of two quirky aliens who plunge on a journey as a space backpacker across nebulae, galaxies, asteroids and even black holes.

Prietov's current work includes the Madhouse pilot, who won awards at several animation festivals, and the first feature-length Halloween, which was awarded for the animation of Ventana Sur. In 2021, we pitched at this year's Annecy and Cinecid Festivals. Lucy Animation is also producing a short film titled mitomorfosis, which won funding for Colombian cinema in 2021. And this year, Pleitov was selected to develop another short film about to enter the Residency Human, pre-production at Apa Lab Argentina.