Since 2000, Anayansi Prado has produced, directed and provided additional cinematographic and editorial support for her documentaries, as well as a host of industry and non-profit films, series and other media projects. Anayansi's independent productions focus on immigration between the US and Latin America, a topic she has documented in her films for the last 20+ years.
AWARD & SCREENINGS
PBS National Broadcast, America Reframed, Fall 2019 Full Frame Film Festival, Human RIghts Award, 2018 NY Human Rights Film Festival, Closing Night Films, 2018 |
THE UNAFRAID (2018) Co-Director/Producer/Cinematographer THE UNAFRAID is a feature length documentary that follows the personal lives of three DACA students in Georgia, a state that has banned them from attending their top state universities and disqualifies them from receiving in-state tuition at any other public college. Shot in an observational style over a period of four years, this film takes an intimate look at the lives of Alejandro, Silvia and Aldo as they navigate activism, pursuing their right to education, and fighting for the rights of their families and communities. THE UNAFRAID shows us what it means to grow up both American and undocumented in the United States. Funded by The Ford Foundation - Just Films, The John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, The Guggenheim Foundation, Tribeca All Access. |
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FREEDOM UNIVERSITY (2017) Co-Director/Producer Georgia is one of three US states that have banned undocumented students from attending state universities. Started by a group of professors, Freedom University provides an “underground” alternative for undocumented students who are trying to get an education – including Arizbeth, a high school senior whom the film follows. Commissioned by Ted Talk and PBS |
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AWARDS & SCREENINGS
PBS National Broadcast, 2011 Audience Award, Panama International Film Festival,P anama (2013) Best Feature Award, New York No Limits Film Series, Brooklyn, NY (2012) Best Native/Indigenous Film, Greenville Film Festival, Greenville, SC (2012) Audience Documentary Award, San Diego Latino Int. Film Festival, San Diego, CA (2012) Best Documentary Award, Boyle Heights Latina Film Extravaganza, Los Angeles, CA (2012) Best Documentary Award, Oaxaca International Film Festival, Mexico (2011) |
PARAISO FOR SALE (2011)
Director/Producer What price would you pay for paradise? And who would you be willing to take it from? The pristine archipelago of Bocas del Toro, Panama attracts retirees and developers from the U.S. with its crystal-clear waters and its island culture. In the award-winning feature documentary PARAISO FOR SALE, filmmaker, Anayansi Prado, returns to her homeland to document the effects the fast-growing migration is having on the local community. This engaging and revealing documentary tells the personal stories of the people who call this area home and would like to keep it that way. From an American couple who’ve invested not just in their home but in their Panamanian community to a local businessman turned political hopeful and an indigenous leader fighting for his land, the characters and stories in PARAISO FOR SALE speak to the larger global issue of communities, new and old, under siege from faceless corporations. This documentary explores issues of modern day colonialism, residential tourism, global gentrification and reverse migration, by revealing that immigration between Latin America and the US is not just a one-way street. Funded by Latino Public Broadcasting and Creative Capital. Read the CASE STUDY BY FILM INDEPENDENT (IFP) |
CHILDREN IN NO MAN'S LAND (2018)
Director/Producer/Cinematographer CHILDREN IN NO MAN’S LAND is a documentary that uncovers the current plight of the 100,000 unaccompanied minors entering the United States every year. This film gives this timely political debate about the U.S./Mexico border a human face by exploring the story of Maria de Jesus (13) and her cousin Rene (12) as they attempt to cross the U.S./Mexico border alone to reunite with their mothers in the Midwest. Focusing on minors crossing through the Sonora Desert area in Nogales, Arizona, this film explores every detail of the children’s journey as well as the journey of other children we meet on the way. We uncover in an intimate and personal way where they are coming from, what their journeys have been like, and how they've gone about making the United States of America their new home. CHILDREN IN NO MAN’S LAND is part of the U.S. State Department's American Documentary Showcase through which it has screened in over 30 countries worldwide. Funded by the Rockefeller Media Fellowship, Paul Robeson Grant, The Pacific Pioneer Fund, Chicken and Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund. |
AWARDS & SCREENINGS
PBS Broadcast, World Channel (2009) The Center for Mexican-American Studies and Research, Best Film Award (2009) Guadalajara International Film Festival, Official Selection (2008) State Department's American Documentary Showcase, Official Selection (2008-10) |
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MAID IN AMERICA (2004)
Director/Producer MAID IN AMERICA is an award-winning documentary offering an intimate, eye-opening look at the lives of las domésticas, as seen through the eyes of Eva, Telma and Judith: three Latina immigrants, each with a very different story, who work as nannies and housekeepers in Los Angeles, California. Filmmakers Anayansi Prado and Kevin Leadingham followed their subjects for several years, and their cameras caught some of the most intimate moments of these women’s lives, both on and off the job. Maid in America broadcasted nationally as part of the PBS series Independent Lens. Funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. |
WHAT ARE YOU? (2019) Director/Producer WHAT ARE YOU? is a short documentary that explores themes of family diversity and internalized racism in Latin American culture through filmmaker Anayansi Prado’s journey to her home country of Panama with her estranged father in search of their African ancestors. The unexpected information they uncover during their research will change their identities and relationship forever. Commissioned by 23&Me and Tribeca Studios. |
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