The Alliance of Women Directors has announced its second class of Mentor Latina Directors fellows Friday.
Mentor Latina Directors, a minimum one-year minimum, is offered to emerging and mid-career filmmakers across various narrative, documentary and unscripted mediums in television and film. The fellowship includes a slew of programming including one-on-one mentorship from industry professionals, monthly panels on craft and career sustainability, workshops catered to the cohort and a mid-year retreat.
“This program is designed to do more than develop careers; it’s a robust and vibrant place where artists can explore, risk and rise,” AWD board member and fellowship creator and chair Donna Bonilla Wheeler said in a release. “Fellows are empowered to push boundaries and swing for the fences, with craft, with voice and with courage.”
The 2025 cohort includes Iris Almaraz, Elaine Del Valle, Karla Espino, Danielle Gibson, Alejandra López, Lorena Lourenço, Itziar Martinez, Sylvia Ray, Sienna Serrano, Jessica Silvetti, Margaux Susi and Cynthia Garcia Williams.
“Like our first year cohort, [the 2025 class are] a crucial part of ensuring that breakthrough storytelling and new voices get out there,” AWD founder and chairwoman Jennifer Warren said in a release. “The striking range of their work builds anticipation for some fantastic cinematic experiences to come for global audiences.”
AWD was established in 1997 by graduates of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, hoping to create community for members to exchange information and support their career advancement in entertainment.
“We’re proud to showcase this fellowship as one of the only directing-focused fellowship programs of its kind, created specifically to uplift Latina and Indigenous voices in film and television,” AWD interim executive director Kylie Eaton said in a statement. “In an industry where Latina and Indigenous directors are still underrepresented, this fellowship offers not just mentorship, but a powerful community and career support structure built by and for these Latina creatives.”