Kristal Sotomayor is a bilingual Latinx documentary filmmaker, festival programmer, and freelance journalist based in Philadelphia, PA.
EXPERTISES
Filmmaker
Kristal is in post-production on Expanding Sanctuary which began through the Film Scholars Fellowship with Scribe Video Center. They are a 2020 Justice For My Sister Sci-Fi Screenwriting Lab Fellow, 2019 Good Pitch Local: Philadelphia grantee, 2018 Leeway Foundation Art & Change grantee, and 2017 NeXtDoc Fellow.
Investigative Journalist
They are a Co-Founder of ¡Presente! Media, a creative collective & production cooperative led by Latinx filmmakers that produce bilingual content focused on social justice. Kristal’s journalistic background includes having written for ITVS, AL DÍA, WHYY, Submittable and Documentary Magazine.
Festival Programmer
They serve as the Programming Director of the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival and have assisted with curation for the “Spotlight on Documentaries” at IFP Week, Camden International Film Festival, Philadelphia Film Festival, and the award-winning PBS documentary series POV | American Documentary.
Film Critic
Kristal is an awardee of the Sundance Institute’s Press Inclusion Initiative, the inaugural International Documentary Association (IDA) Magazine Editorial Fellowship, and a Lenfest Next Generation Fund awardee. Kristal is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).
ACCOLADES
Sundance Film Institute Press Inclusion Initiative
2020
NALIP Emerging Content Creators Scholarship
2020
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Press Inclusion Initiative
2020
Justice For My Sister Black, Indigenous, People of Color Sci-Fi Screenwriting Lab
2020
Double Exposure Film Festival Scholarship
2020 & 2018
Scribe Video Center Philadelphia Independent Media Finishing Fund
2020
Lenfest Institute For Journalism Next Generation Fund
2020
Leeway Foundation Arts & Change Grant
2019
Scribe Video Center co-presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Film Scholar Program
2017
Youth Fx & The Carey Institute NextDoc Fellowship
2017
If/Then, Points North, LEF Foundation, and Screening Room North Shorts Residency and Grant
2020
NBC University Visual Storytelling During Breaking News
2020
International Documentary Association (IDA) Documentary Magazine Editorial Fellowship
2020
Temple Contemporary at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts The Velocity Fund
2020
Public Radio Exchange (PRX) Podcasting for Journalists Intensive
2020
Doc Society’s Good Pitch Local: Philadelphia Media Maker Grant
2019
Doc Society’s Good Pitch Local: Philadelphia Media Maker Presenter
2018
HCAH Flaherty Seminar Student Fellowship
2017
Bryn Mawr College Film Studies Department Film Studies Fellowship
2017
Haverford College Digital Storytelling Workshop
2016
