Director, Edition, Production , Screenplay
Adriana Rojas Espitia
She is a communications specialist and a journalist with a degree from the University of Antioquia and a Master's in Plastic and Visual Arts from the National University of Colombia. In 2010, she received a scholarship from Ibermedia to attend the Cinematographic Photography and Film Editing Workshops offered by CECAN and EICTV in Tenerife, Spain. In 2013, she was also selected to attend the Film Workshop with Abbas Kiarostami in Murcia, Spain. She is a co-founder of Ojo Mágico Productora Audiovisual, based in Medellín. Since 2014, she has been the director and curator of the International Exhibition of Video Art and Experimental Film, Intermediaciones.
Her career as a director, screenwriter, and editor began in 2005 with her work on La última apuesta (The Last Bet, 2005), which she also edited. The film was nominated in various festivals, including the Fifth Audiovisual Exhibition of the University of Santiago de Cali (2005), the Third Bolivarian Film and Video Festival (2005), and the Tenth National University Television Awards, Césares Awards (2006). It was also nominated for the Best Creative Short Film at the Universidad de Las Californias, Tijuana, Mexico (2006); selected for the 6th Medellín Para Verte Mejor Audiovisual Competition (2006) in the argumentative/fiction category, and for the National Short Film Championship in Pereira (2006) in the argumentative category. It also participated in the 3rd El Espejo Short Film Festival in Bogota (2006) in the National Panorama category.
In the documentary field, she directed, wrote, and edited La salsa dura in Medellín (The Hard Salsa in Medellín, 2007). This work was selected for the 47th Cartagena de Indias International Film Festival (FICCI), where it participated in the 7th New Creators Competition and was nominated for the India Catalina Award in the Video Documentary category. It was screened in the National Panorama Exhibit at the 4th El Espejo Short Film Festival in Bogota (2007) and the 2nd Eastern Film Festival in Rionegro (2008), where it was nominated for Best Subject and Best Screenplay in the University Documentary category.
In 2009, she presented the short film Domingo, which screened at the Museum of Modern Art in Medellín that same year. She has participated in the Pulpmovies short film festival in Medellín (2010) and the Sixth International Independent Film Festival in Mazatlan, Sinaloa (2013). She directed Muñecas (Dolls), Nuevo occidente (New West), and Dípticos (Diptychs), three works shot in 2013 that explore new ways of visual storytelling and artistic expression, underlining her expertise in the field of experimental cinema.
In 2011, she directed the filminutes En el mar uno (In the Sea One) and Kino Metro, as well as the experimental piece Altavista, which was later developed and presented in the United States and Mexico in 2013. Altavista Sec I was presented at the Local Project Art Space in New York in June 2013 as part of the third Under the Subway Videart Night. It was also shortlisted at the Walthamstow International Film Festival in the United Kingdom and presented at the 14th International Image Festival in Manizales, Colombia, and the Sixth International Independent Film Festival Mazatlan, Sinaloa (2013). In 2015, it participated in the 11th Media Art Monographic Showcase. The continuation of her work, Altavista Sec II, was part of the XVI International Image Festival in Manizales, Colombia (2013), the International Symposium on Electronic Art ISEA2017, and was selected for the Media Art Monographic Showcase in 2017.
She also directed the experimental documentary Cartagena (2019), which was selected in numerous festivals and exhibitions both nationally and internationally, including Vartex 7 - Video and Experimental Showcase, the National Short Film Competition of the 4th Jardín Film Festival in the Kaleidoscope category, and the 21st International Documentary Showcase of Bogotá (MIDBO), where it was exhibited within the Visual Cartographies. In addition, Cartagena was part of the National Short Film Competition of the III SANFICI - Santander International Independent Film Festival and the 15th Asimtria Festival in Peru. It has also been selected for the Bogota Experimental Film Festival 2020 and the 8th FIDBA - International Documentary Film Festival of Buenos Aires as part of the Colombian Film Focus. Other notable selections include the 11th Female Cinema Festival, the 18th Bogotá Short Film Festival - Bogoshorts 2020 in the Colombian Documentary Panorama, and the III Peruvian Film Festival Made by Women in 2021, a selection of the Bogotá Experimental Film Festival.
Diòba is her debut feature film, which she produced, directed, and wrote. It had its world premiere at the 61st Ann Arbor Film Festival - AAFF. The film was selected for the Films in Construction competition at the 15th Gibara International Film Festival in Cuba (2019), FICVIÑA Construye at the 52nd Viña del Mar International Film Festival (2019), and included in the Work in Progress selection of Contemporary Colombian Cinema in Construction at the III SANFICI - Santander International Independent Film Festival 2020. It also participated in the national competition of the 15th Cali International Film Festival (FICCALI).