Managers, Director of photography
Elkin Zair Manco
https://www.academiacolcine.com/
Elkin Zair Manco is an audiovisual producer and cultural manager with a degree in Television and Radio Production from the Universidad Manuela Beltrán in partnership with Corporación Educativa ITAE. He studied Social Communication at the Institución Universitaria de Colombia and completed a postgraduate degree in International Cooperation and Management at the University of Barcelona. He complemented his education with a Diploma in Creative Communication from the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, attended workshops in screenwriting for feature films, and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Management and Entrepreneurship of Cultural Projects at the Universidad de La Rioja.
He has worked as an independent audiovisual producer, focusing on documentary and digital and institutional content. From 2012 to 2013, he was the coordinator and director of digital media at Black Velvet Laboratories. He has also been a photojournalist for various film festivals, including the International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias - FICCI (2012) and the Santander Film Festival - FICS (2012 and 2013).
He was the cinematography director for the documentary El Viaje de Tomás (The Journey of Tomás), director of the documentary report Mi Banda (My Band), and the chronicle Sueños en REC (Dreams in REC). He was an assistant producer and editor for the fiction short film Paloma (Dove), produced the institutional video Héroes Voluntarios (Volunteer Heroes), and was a cameraman at Canal K.
His work in various fields has earned him numerous awards and recognitions. In 2010, he was part of the Official Selection of FICCI with the short film Paloma. The same year, he won the Luis Enrique Figueroa Award for Sueños en REC. He won the same awards again the following year for Mi Banda and in 2013 for El Viaje de Tomás.
From 2016 to 2021, he led several projects under SENA's general direction. Among them, he was the creator and national director of the Cine al SENA strategy, which affected around 1,500 apprentices and 25 trainers per year. This initiative provided opportunities for international mobility, internships, exchanges, entrepreneurship, projects, research processes, seminars, and workshops in audiovisual production.
He has also entered into agreements with various film events, including the Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM), the Bogotá Short Film Festival / Festival de Cortos de Bogotá —Bogoshorts, the Congo Film School, the Bolivia Lab, the FICCI, and the San Sebastián International Film Festival (Spain).
Since 2022, he has been the Executive Director of the Colombian Film Academy, where he leads and manages projects that coordinate the fourteen specialties within the Academy. He creates opportunities for exposure and dialogue between industry professionals and emerging talent. In addition, he has strengthened the National Film Awards—Macondo Awards.
In 2024, he became the Executive Director of the Ibero-American Federation of Film Academies of Arts and Sciences (FIACINE), bringing his experience to an organization that includes fourteen film academies from the Ibero-American region.