Profiles: Carlos Hernández | Proimágenes Colombia

Carlos Hernández Peñuela is a film and TV director with a degree from the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba (1993). Peñuela has also completed studies in Journalism at the Universidad Externado de Colombia (1990); a specialization in Directing at the San Sebastian School of Film and Video in Spain (1994); Cinematography studies in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil (1995/2002); and several other audiovisual courses in various fields. He has worked as a director, photographer, cameraman, editor, producer, and university professor.
 
As a documentary filmmaker, he worked for the networks Colcultura and Señal Colombia in 1996 and 1997. He founded the Al Mar-gen Traveling Screening of Colombian Documentaries, which sought to bring documentaries to remote regions of Colombia. His script for the medium-length film Tres mujeres won him the Colcultura National Film Scholarship in 1997.
 
Until 2003, Hernández worked in advertising as commercials director with the agency Lowe/SSPM in Bogota. He then continued in advertising until 2009, this time as a director and cinematographer with Teleset Comerciales. He has shot advertising campaigns for a host of different corporate clients and products, both Colombian and international, including Renault, Axe, Unilever, Águila beer, and Virgin Mobile; as well as institutions such as the League Against Cancer, the Children's Heart Foundation, and the País Libre Foundation.
 
In film, he has worked as a director of photography and camera operator for the shorts Lunes by Luis Fernando Villa, Abril 21 by Carolina Durán, La mera propina by Edison Sánchez, Julia by Johnatan Avendaño, Acción/Reacción by Victoria Meneses, and Historias menores by Daniel Mejia; as well as for TV projects for networks such as Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC.
 
His short film La vuelta de hoja (2003) earned him the Bogota Cinemateca Award in 2001. With his feature film Tres hombres tres mujeres, he attended a film production seminar for debut films from third world countries, as part of the Tehran Film Festival in Iran. His short film Marina la esposa del pescador participated in various festivals in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, winning several awards, including the Best Latin American Film Award at the 2009 Bilbao Short Film Festival (ZINEBI), the Best Cinematography Award at the GrandOff Film Festival in Warsaw, the Jury Prize at the Toulouse Festival, and First Prize at the 2009 AXN Film Festival.
 
In 2014, Hernández released his two most recent shorts: Flor, made during the Make a Movie with Abbas Kiarostami workshop, and Había una vez un jardín, created for the Communicate in Peace project organized by Unimedios and the Office of the President of Colombia.
 
He has taught on a range of subjects related to the audiovisual industry at several Colombian universities, such as the Universidad Externado de Colombia, Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de Los Andes, Universidad Central, Universidad Sergio Arboleda, Universidad de Manizales, Universidad de Caldas, Universidad del Magdalena, and the Universidad Cooperativa de Neiva, as well as the “Imagining Our Image” Audiovisual Training Workshops given by the Colombian Ministry of Culture throughout the country. Since 2010, he has also taught Cinematography at the International School of Film in San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba.
 
Hernández is currently working on his latest scripts: El mar que camina, a project that won him support from the Ministry of Culture of Colombia in 2008 in the category of Project Development for feature films for young audiences; and the shorts La sonrisa de dios and Lluvia con sal, both in pre-production.
 
He currently works as a freelance director of photography and camera operator for advertising and documentaries. His most recent projects as director of photography and camera supervisor are the features Buenaventura no me dejes más by Marcela Gómez (Colombia-France, 2013), produced by Laberinto Producciones and Caracol Televisión; Marimbula by Diana Cuellar (Colombia-Senegal, 2013), produced by Making Docs - FDC; the television documentary series Inside DEA LatinAmerica by Steve Hoggard (Colombia-U.S.A., 2012), produced by Hoggard Films and National Geographic; 60 años de TV en Colombia by Felipe García-Peña (Colombia, 2013), produced by Laberinto Producciones and Caracol Televisión; and NarcoTech (Colombia-United States-Mexico, 2013), produced by MazDoc-Univision/Fusion.