TEAM

NATALIA LUQUE BARRIOS

Chilean writer/director who holds an MFA in screenwriting and directing from Columbia University and is part of BAFTA's Newcomers Program.

While in Chile, she worked as a development assistant in the Fiction Department of TVN (National Television Channel). She later joined the screewriting team of the soap opera "La Chúcara".

Her fiction short films “On My Own” (2019) and “The Virgin, The Old Lady, The Journey” (2020) have screened in over 50 International Film Festivals including, Torino FF, Palm Springs Shortfest, and Brussels Short FF. “On My Own" was awarded the Jury Prize Award at the DGA Student Film Competition in 2020.

She is currently developing her first feature film "Decorous Woman", which presented in several markets and labs in the Ibero-American Region, such as Guadalajara Film Market (Mexico), Ventana Sur Market (Argentina), and a writing residence in Madrid. She is also distributing her thesis short film "So They Say" (2023), winner of two production grants.

In addition, she has taught Film Studies and Screenwriting at Columbia University. Currenly, Luque mentors thesis film projects at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

LETICIA AKEL ESCARATE

Chilean director and screenwriter. A graduate of the Film MFA program at Columbia University, Leticia has written or directed projects in Chile, Iceland, Pakistan, and the United States. She has also taught as a film professor and teaching assistant at Universidad Católica de Chile and Columbia University.

Her short films have been screened and awarded at numerous film festivals, including Aspen ShortsFest, Palm Springs ShortFest, Seattle International Film Festival, and Cinélatino Rencontres de Toulouse. Her latest short film "Premonition" won the Cacho Pallero Award at the Huesca International Film Festival, as well as four other Special Jury Mentions.

Currently, Leticia is developing her first feature film “Orchard”, and co-writing “Malpelo”, a feature film supported by a Sloan Foundation grant and by organizations such as Sundance Institute, Film Independent, and Cine Qua Non Lab.

CECILIA OTERO-BOYLE

Cecilia Otero-Boyle is a Los Angeles-based writer and producer, born in Cuba and raised in Chile. Her debut movie, PIOLA, which she produced, earned the Best First Feature Prize at FICG 35 in México. It was also selected for the Official Selection at the Málaga Film Festival in Spain and was acquired by Netflix in 2021.

Cecilia is a participant in the highly competitive BAFTA's Newcomers Program and in 2021, she became a Film Independent Producing fellow. Currently, Cecilia is developing two feature projects, A DECOROUS WOMAN and UPSTREAMERS, the latter receiving the 2021 Sloan Producing Fellowship. She also produced the short film ON MY OWN (2019), which earned a place at the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Short Film Corner after its world premiere at the Havana Film Festival. The film won the DGA (Directors Guild of America) Jury Prize in the student competition and was selected at the Brussels Short Film Festival, among others.

In 2023, Cecilia produced the short film SOY THEY SAY, which has been featured in the official short film competition at the Telluride Film Festival, PÖFF, Palm Springs, and other festivals. ABURO (short film, 2021) marks her directorial debut in fiction, it premiered at Miami Film Festival and was supported by the Amsterdam World Cinema Fund.