With Mexican and Guatemalan roots, Andrés is an independent filmmaker, who at a young age, has already been part of several indie film productions in Vancouver and in Mexico City. With a bachelor’s degree in Communications & Digital Media, he won a scholarship to study at the Vancouver Film School in 2019, where he studied Film Production, with a specialization in Directing and Post-Production.
He was nominated for Best First-Time Filmmaker on the Lift-Off Global Network for his student short film ‘Guilt’, while his two previous short films, which he directed, co-wrote, and edited, competed in several international film festivals. With a keen focus on directing and post-production, he intends to keep telling stories that impact people around the globe.
Director Statement
“Separation has always intrigued me; mostly due to its contradiction as a painful yet liberating experience. The helplessness of being part of a relationship that’s slowly fading away is a familiar, yet ethereal phenomenon. With In Paradise, I decided to portray this reality by involving the most drastic of stakes – setting the story in a post-apocalyptic world that acts as a macrocosm of Ana’s and Adam’s dying relationship.
The film starts in medias res, with characters already at the brink of exhaustion, having experienced the most traumatic events. We don’t focus on how or why they got there; instead, we converge on where they are right now and where they must go from here – both literally and metaphorically. Synonymous to their relationship, the patiently paced film still renders a sense of urgency.
In Paradise grounds it’s supernatural elements in the most subtle way, allowing us to explore a dilemma stripped down to its most primal state: to survive or to live? This is not a love story, but it is a story about love.”
Fantasy/Sci-Fi FILM & WRITING FESTIVAL 