Presented by CiNEOLA and BAVC Media as part of the Bay Area Media Maker Summit (BAMMS 2025) in San Francisco on August 17, 2025. A panel of local filmmakers discusses their unique perspectives and experiences making documentaries in the Bay Area as Latinx artists, and how they approach telling stories as part of an intersectional Latin American diaspora. Panelists shared recent work samples, followed by questions after a moderated discussion. Panelists: Emily Cohen Ibañez, Luca Capponi, Maya Cueva, Colette Ghunim Moderated by Daniel Díaz Filmed and edited by Javan Jiles Panelist bios: Colette Ghunim Colette’s soul purpose is to use the power of film and storytelling for those oppressed around the world to be seen, to be heard, and to heal. Her first documentary, The People’s Girls (2016), won Best Short Documentary at the Arab Film Festival. She is currently directing Traces of Home, her first feature-length film documenting her inner quest to find home through unearthing her parents’ forced migrations from Mexico and Palestine. Her work has been highlighted on international outlets such as Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, Univision, and TEDx. Emily Cohen Ibañez Emily’s films pair lyricism with social activism, advocating for environmental and labor justice. Her award-winning feature, Fruits of Labor, about a teenage farmworker, premiered at SXSW 2021 and aired on PBS POV. She is currently completing her short documentary RIVER, about competitive river rafters in the Colombian Amazon, and writing her first screenplay, From Honey to Ashes, supported by SFFILM's Rainin Grant. Her third feature documentary in progress, Orquidea, is about orchid protectors in Colombia. Luca Capponi Luca is an Italian-Ecuadorian filmmaker from a small village in the Bergamo province, Italy. Growing up in a bicultural environment, he developed an early curiosity about identity, migration, and the experiences of marginalized communities. He is a graduate of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC), Italy’s National School of Cinema. Luca is now based in Berkeley and currently working on Like Heaven Without God, a documentary that follows the lives of unhoused individuals living in an RV community. Maya Cueva Maya is a Latina award-winning director and producer from Berkeley, CA. She was a Netflix Nonfiction Director and Producer fellow and was also listed on DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 Filmmakers, co-presented by HBO Documentary Films. Her work has been featured on The New Yorker, NPR’s All Things Considered, Latino USA, The Atlantic, Teen Vogue, and National Geographic. Her feature documentary, On the Divide, premiered in competition at Tribeca Film Festival in 2021. Maya is currently working on her second documentary feature film Rebel Without a Pause.
