About

Artist Bio

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Kristal Sotomayor (they/she) is a bilingual Latinx documentary filmmaker, festival programmer, awards manager, and journalist based in Philadelphia. Drawing inspiration from their Peruvian heritage, Kristal’s community-based work practice focuses on Latinidad, immigration, and belonging. They practice transformative filmmaking that humanizes and validates the lived experiences of underrepresented communities.

Currently, Kristal is in production on EXPANDING SANCTUARY, an independent short documentary about the historic end to police surveillance organized by nonprofit Juntos and the Latinx immigrant community in South Philadelphia. The documentary began through the Film Scholars Fellowship with Scribe Video Center, co-sponsored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. They are also in development on a animated short docu-fiction film called ALX THROUGH THE LABYRINTH that take a dive into the nonbinary Latinx Alice In Wonderland-like reality of contracting COVID-19; from the symptoms of vertigo to sensory loss and the labyrinth of seeking treatment. Kristal’s work has been supported by the MDOCS Storytellers’ Institute Visiting Fellowship, If/Then North Shorts Residency, DCTV Docu Work-In-Progress Lab, Justice For My Sister Sci-Fi TV Screenwriting Lab, BAVC Serial Storytellers Lab, Good Pitch Local: Philadelphia Lab, and NeXtDoc Fellowship. They are an organizer for The Video Consortium: Philadelphia and a member of the filmmaking collectives SIFT Media 215 and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.

They serve as the Programming Director of the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (PHLAFF) and the Awards Competition Manager for the IDA Documentary Awards, the world’s most prestigious event dedicated to the documentary genre. Kristal is also a Seasonal Programmer for San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM). Formerly, they were the Communications and Outreach Coordinator at Scribe Video Center. In the past, they 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. Through their work, they have served as Curator/Juror for the 2021 Tri-Co Film Festival. They have received leadership training from the Film Festival Alliance & Full Spectrum Features Film Festival Leadership Lab Fellowship, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Advocacy Leadership Institute and the Arts + Business Council [Virtual] Creative Exchange Program.

Kristal’s journalistic background includes having written for ITVS, AL DÍA, WHYY, and Documentary Magazine. They write the Latinx cinema column “Cine alzando voz” and serve on the Editorial Collective for the film journal cinéSPEAK. Kristal is a Co-Founder/Journalist of ¡Presente! Media, a collective led by Latinx filmmakers that produce bilingual content focused on social justice. Their writing has been supported by the Sundance Institute Press Inclusion Initiative, TIFF Media Inclusion Initiative, IDA Magazine Editorial Fellowship, NBC University Visual Storytelling During Breaking News Program, and Lenfest Constellation News Leadership Initiative. Kristal is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, CherryPicks Approved Critic, and the TIME’S UP Critical Database.

Filmmaking Accolades

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Journalism Accolades

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