10 Latinx Filmmakers You Should Know About
In 2021, we saw a lot of up-and-coming Latinx talent in the film industry making big moves
Photos: Instagram/@horrorguerrero; @amandasarabia; @kristalsotomayor
In 2021, we saw a lot of up-and-coming Latinx talent in the film industry making big moves. Going into 2022 with that in mind, we wanted to make the extra effort to continue supporting Latinx creators in the entertainment industry as they work to break barriers and do incredible work that entertains, informs and perhaps even more importantly, represents for our communities. We need more people telling our stories and we need them being told on a wider scale to a broader audience, and we have faith that these 10 Latinx filmmakers are ready to do just that. Who knows? One of them may just be the next Guillermo del Toro or Lin-Manuel Miranda.
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Ángel Manuel Soto
Last year DC Comics announced that Puerto Rican filmmaker, Ángel Manuel Soto, was tapped to direct the upcoming film, Blue Beetle, which is scheduled to come out in 2023. It will actually be the first feature-length Latino superhero movie. Ángel previously earned acclaim for the film Charm City Kings in 2020, and it was recently announced that he will be directing an upcoming Transformers film.wp_*posts
Reinaldo Marcus Green
Writer and director Reinaldo Marcus Green was given a massive boost in his career when he was hired to direct 2021’s King Richard starring Will Smith. The critically acclaimed film has already been nominated for over and won several awards and there’s also Oscar buzz. Previously, Reinaldo garnered attention for his work on the 2018 film, Monsters and Men and the British series, Top Boy. Coming up next is a 2022 TV miniseries titled, We Own The City, starring Gabrielle Carteris and John Bernthal, whom he worked with on King Richard.wp_*posts
Amanda Sarabia
Amanda Sarabia is a documentary filmmaker devoted to seeking justice for Latinx people. Currently, she’s fundraising for a documentary inspired by the story of Vanessa Guillén, which led her to launch her own production company, Amanda Sarabia Production, in August 2020. She was also involved in producing the award-winning music video/PSA, “Orgullo,” with hip-hop artists Dylan Golden and Kenyi Succar, which tackles the topic of problematic ICE raids. Currently in production, Amanda is working on the film, First It Was My Dream, about a Mexican boxer navigating his career and his path toward U.S. citizenship.wp_*posts
Isabel Bethencourt
Sundance-award-winning filmmaker Isabel Bethencourt is a director and cinematographer who directed the 2021 documentary, Cusp. The doc follows a group of teenage girls from Texas as they face toxic masculinity and learn to navigate relationships as budding adults. Previously, she’s directed several other documentaries including Moving Home and Pacific Trade and has served as cinematographer on films including the upcoming documentary Robo Mike and the short-form documentary Buried Treasure.wp_*posts
Janicza Bravo
Janicza Bravo is the director of the Sundance-award-winning short film, Gregory Go Boom, as well as the widely acclaimed films Lemon and Zola, the latter was the first film inspired by a Twitter thread. She’s also worked on a number of popular television shows including Atlanta and Dear White People. She’s set to direct the pilot for a new series titled, Kindred, about a writer who gets pulled back in time to a Southern plantation in the 1800s.wp_*posts
Gigi Saul Guerrero
Gigi Saul Guerrero, also known as, “La Muñeca del Terror,” is a multi-hyphenate talent primarily known for her work as an actor and a director in numerous horror films. She’s also worked as a writer and producer on several projects. Gigi earned a first look deal with Blumhouse Productions in 2019 which most notably produced the TV movie, Culture Shock, a horror film about immigration and assimilation. In 2021, she directed the horror films Bingo Hell and Netmare, and she currently has a film titled, 28, in the pre-production phase.wp_*posts
Tatiana Huezo
Documentary filmmaker Tatiana Huezo has dedicated her career to telling important stories. Her very first film, El Lugar Más Pequeño, is about the civil war in El Salvador and won a dozen awards on the film circuit. Her latest film, Prayers for the Stolen, is fictional coming-of-age story about three young girls from a town struggling with a rampant drug trade and human trafficking. It has won a slew of awards, and was submitted as an Oscars contender in Mexico where the Salvadoran filmmaker resides. When asked by Variety, Guillermo Del Toro named her as his pick for the future of Hollywood. “She has high-level cinematics and solutions for moments that blew me away,” he said of her work.wp_*posts
Kristal Sotomayor
Kristal Sotomayor is a talented young documentary filmmaker who draws inspiration from her heritage to create films that highlight Latinidad and tackle tough issues like immigration. Perhaps best known as the director of the 2017, documentary, To My Motherland, which she also wrote, Kristal has several projects currently in production. Among those is ALX Through the Labyrinth, an animated fictional short about a non-binary, Latinx Alice in Wonderland character who contracts COVID-19.wp_*posts
Andrew Nuño
One half of a filmmaking duo with his twin, Adrian, Andrew Nuño has been garnering some attention for his web series, Border’d, which is about three Latinx siblings who return to their hometown in the wake of a family tragedy. He’s also produced, directed, written and acted in a number of independent films. Up next, he’s producing the short film, Sugar Rush, about a boy facing a bully.wp_*posts
Adrian Nuño
The other half of The Nuño Twins, Adrian co-founded Diginamic Productions alongside Andrew, Adrian is co-producer of Sugar Rush and Border’d, and has more than 130 film projects to his name. In addition to acting in and directing many of his own films, Adrian has also worked as a cinematographer on a number of shorts and hour-long films.
