Presenting our 2022 PIFF/LA judges!
Angela María Ortíz S.
Born in Colón, Panamá and a resident of Los Angeles for more than fifty years, Angela is an accomplished graphic artist, designer, consultant in publishing and a dedicated art and photography curator and leader in the non-profit arts arena. Angela was part of the leadership of Reel Rasquache Art and Film Festival for over seven years; then from 2012-14 she was the co-director and curator of the Festival’s art exhibition.
In recent years, she has further expanded her reach to include work as a curator of a wide range of art exhibitions, including Shut Up & Shoot: A Photography Show of Unexpected Moments, Cityscapes, Landscapes & InBetween: A Black & White Photography Show.
She is the publisher of sefijaonline.com, a popular web site on films and pop culture. Her photographs and paintings are in many private collections.
Juan Escobedo
Juan is an award-winning actor, director and photographer who was born and raised in San Diego, California, USA. In 2007 Escobedo portrayed and directed a troubled war veteran in the short film “Soy Soldado de Irak.” The film generated numerous awards including the Swiss Cultural Program’s Best Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival (2008), and the Cinema of Conscience Award from the Sonoma Valley Film Festival (2008). It was nominated for the prestigious Imagen Award (2009), which honors positive portrayals of Latinos in film and television. His other directorial work includes “Ruby,” a film for Current TV. In 2018, Escobedo’s other film Marisol, a short film that deals with the horrors of domestic violence and child abuse won the Best Dramatic Short at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and Best Actress Awards for both leading Actresses at the Women’s Independent Film Festival and the Playhouse West Film Festival. Marisol script was also inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) Margaret Herrick Library permanent collection made available to researchers.
