NYWIFT Talks with Isabel Sandoval, 1/5
Welcome to NYWIFT Talks, a weekly series to bring updated news and vital information about the impact of COVID-19 on the media and entertainment industry. Industry professionals will be in conversation discussing what you need to know about theatrical releases, digital advances, virtual tools, festival opportunities, production updates and more.
NYWIFT Talks are free for all to attend.
For this weeks 2021 NYWIFT Talks, join director Isabel Sandoval to discuss her first film Lingua Franca (available to watch on Netflix) and the impact she made at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival. We’ll discuss her current projects and more.
Moderator to be announced.
Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Time: 4:00 PM EST
Panelists
Director, actress, writer, producer, and editor Isabel Sandoval is the Filipina filmmaker who made history at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori section with the first film directed by and starring a trans woman of color ever to screen in competition. The film, Lingua Franca, is Sandoval’s first feature filmed in the U.S. and her third feature as director. After Venice, Lingua Franca traveled a global film festival journey into 2020 by way of the AFI Fest, BFI London Film Festival, American Film Festival Wroclaw, International Film Festival of India Goa, Festival International du Film de Mons, Palm Springs Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, Hamburg International Film Festival, Vinokino Film Festival, Everybody’s Perfect LGBT Film Festival, Gender Bender Film Festival, Slovak Queer Film Festival, Thessaloniki Film Festival, and Bentonville Film Festival — where it won Best Narrative Feature. Theatrical distribution via Ava DuVernay’s Array Now initiative followed, and Lingua Franca is now available on Netflix.
Sandoval made her directorial debut with the noir-inflected Señorita, which world-premiered in competition at the Locarno Film Festival and earned her the Emerging Director Award at the Asian American International Film Festival. Her second feature as director was the Ferdinand Marcos-era nun drama Apparition, which won the Lotus Audience Award at the Deauville Asian Film Festival following its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival. MoMA’s Department of Film featured Apparition in its survey of new-wave Philippine filmmaking as part of the “A New Golden Age: Contemporary Philippine Cinema” series. Sandoval’s films have also been generously supported by Frameline, Jerome Foundation, Independent Filmmaker Project, Tribeca Film Institute, New York Film Academy, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, and the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Westridge Grant. Sandoval is a graduate from the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines and earned her MBA as a graduate of NYU Stern School of Business. She currently lives in New York.