I'm Violeta AyalaFilm Futurist, AI Innovator and Creative TechnologistMozilla Fellow 26/27

The silver jaguar of Las Awichas walks in the dark.

“Until the jaguars tell their own story, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”

A collage of a woman in many outfits, over flowers and painted lettering.

The first Bolivian Quechua director member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars)

Slide the picture sideways →

I'm a storyteller, a fighter. I build systems and worlds, regardless of the genre, in the form that makes most sense to me in the moment: documentaries, virtual and augmented reality, AI installations, robots, data sets, writing, drawing, making collages, protests and live performance.

This is a glimpse of the world around me, a sort of evolution of a jaguaress that refuses to be captured.

I believe a different world is possible. It's in our collective hands and imaginations.

Violeta, the jaguaress by the years 

Biography

Open

I'm Violeta Ayala, filmmaker, artist, technologist and AI innovator, and the first Quechua member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. My work moves between cinema, code and resistance. I build worlds where storytelling, technology and Indigenous futurism meet, imagining film as something alive, a system that listens, reacts and evolves. My VR animation Prison X premiered at Sundance and Cannes before travelling through festivals and museums around the world. My documentaries La Lucha, Cocaine Prison, The Fight, The Bolivian Case and Stolen have been broadcast on PBS, Amazon Prime, Netflix and The Guardian, earning more than 50 international awards, including a Walkley.

In 2021 my world KOA.XYZ received an honourable mention in the Indigenous Futurism Model-Making Competition of the Indigenous Scholars of Architecture, Planning and Design. In 2023 La Lucha premiered at BlackStar and SXSW Sydney, and in 2024 it won the NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing at the ReelAbilities Film Festival in New York. In 2023 Woven Worlds received the special recognition for XR innovation at the XR Brain Jam of Games for Change in New York. My XR works Las Awichas, Huk the Jaguaress and Woven Worlds have been exhibited in London, New York, Paris, Copenhagen and Guangzhou.

In 2024, at Mila, the Quebec AI Institute, I developed Huk the Jaguaress, a multimodal experience where robotic vision, large language models, sculpture and projection mapping come together in real time. That year I was selected as a Salzburg Global Fellow, for Creating Futures: Art and AI for Tomorrow's Narratives. In 2025 I co-led FAIR FUTURE: Feminist AI at the University of Nottingham, designing workshops and hack jams about collective intelligence and care. I presented Todo Nace Desde Lo Pequeño at Festival Ollantay, at El Martadero in Cochabamba, a live experiment where dancers, generative imagery and spectators co-created the story together.

Right now I'm expanding Huk at Mila and Abundant Intelligences, building a collective intelligence model at the intersection of Indigenous AI, dance, affective computing and ecology. As the first Mozilla Fellow from Bolivia, I'm building an embodied intelligence trained locally, on our own computers and our own energy, for community data sovereignty and Indigenous dance ch'ixied with breaking. I direct sala.red, Red de Información Tecnológica, investigating Bolivia's technological infrastructure, economy, critical minerals, media ownership and Indigenous data rights. I'm the co-founder of United Notions Film.

Filmmaker CV AI CV Portfolio (PDF) v@unf.red

Instagram X GitHub Substack IMDb Wikipedia United Notions Film koa.xyz sala.red My videos on sala.red The Huffington Post

Filmography

XR experiences and exhibitions

Awards

  • Best Director, New York Women in Film & Television La Lucha 2024
  • XR Innovation, XR Brain Jam, Games for Change Woven Worlds 2023
  • New Frontier, Sundance Film Festival Prison X 2021
  • Audience Award, Toulouse Latin America Film Festival Cocaine Prison 2018
  • Best of Fest, IDFA Cocaine Prison 2017
  • Best Cinematography, Walkley Awards The Fight 2017
  • DW Doc Dispatch Award, Sheffield DocFest The Fight 2017
  • Audience Award, Sydney Film Festival The Bolivian Case 2015
  • Grand Prix, Art of the Document, Warsaw Stolen 2010
  • Best Feature Documentary, Pan African Film Festival Stolen 2010

Every award, by year

2026

  • sala.red
  • A silver robotic whale rises from the flooded salt flat of Uyuni at dusk.Yakumama
  • Three people talk in front of a banner that reads Overcoming the Imagination Chokepoint.Overcoming the Imagination ChokepointPhoto: Foreign Policy
  1. Mozilla Fellow, 2026 to 2027Mozilla FoundationAward

    I'm the first Mozilla Fellow from Bolivia.

    Mozilla Foundation

  2. sala.redCochabambaWriting
    The sala.red logo over bands of colour, with the words Technology Information Network.

    I direct sala.red. From Bolivia, sala.red investigates, analyses and comments on how technology, from cables to artificial intelligence, shapes society in the Global South: politics, infrastructure and power relations. What I wrote there in 2026:

    1. 4 Oct¿De dónde saca sus respuestas un chatbot?
    2. 3 OctYPFB le debe 67 millones de dólares a Futura
    3. 1 Oct¿Quién es Futura?
    4. 1 OctFutura dice que le vende a YPFB
    5. 28 SepSeparata o Siglo Pasado
    6. 28 SepCondoSat
    7. 25 SepPlan B contra el espionaje
    8. 22 Sep¿Por dónde gobierna el presidente?
    9. 19 Sep¿Con qué licencia opera Starlink?
    10. 17 SepTKSat-1
    11. 16 SepEl Candado
    12. 16 SepMe escondieron a mí comunidad
    13. 16 SepPrimero La Ley
    14. 13 SepApagar el algoritmo
    15. SepEl zinc que no se vende
    16. 11 SepEl país sin mar por donde pasan los datos
    17. 3 SepSomos el experimento
    18. 2 Sep¿Cómo se encuentra un voto?
    19. 30 AugEl escudo
    20. 30 Aug¿Quién es Rodrigo Paz?
    21. 27 AugEl Socio
    22. 25 AugTe Conocen
    23. 24 AugEl mismo escándalo, distinto precio
    24. 22 AugLa pantalla Cerimedo
    25. 21 AugEl cuerpo sabe la música
    26. 19 AugLa máquina que aterrizó en Bolivia
    27. 18 AugRío Abajo
    28. 15 Aug35 días y 12 millones de hectáreas
    29. 15 AugEl mito de los conejos
    30. 14 AugEl catastro que nadie actualiza
    31. 2 AugSeguimos comprando agua de las cisternas
    32. 2 AugH2O e IA
    33. 2 AugLa Montaña es el refugio
    34. 31 JulMultihabilidades, o gente de otra galaxia
    35. 28 JulPor Cuenta Propia
    36. 25 JulTepito ya construyó el futuro
    37. 13 JulEl zinc se va con pasajeros ocultos
    38. 11 JulLa Cancha es el Mapa
    39. 10 JulEl poder detrás de la pantalla: ¿segmentación o manipulación?
    40. 7 JulEl Quipu Que Baila
    41. 5 JulLos Minerales Críticos de Bolivia. Parte 2
    42. 30 JunEl poder detrás de la portada
    43. 27 JunUn dólar libre y un país hipotecado
    44. 25 JunEl feed reemplaza al noticiero
    45. 23 JunEl que pierde grita fraude
    46. 23 JunDieciocho mil paredes
    47. 20 JunDel estaño al litio, el mismo decreto
    48. 16 JunCinco empresas de vigilancia operan sobre Bolivia
    49. 14 JunLa inteligencia ya es territorio
    50. 12 JunSalar de Uyuni
    51. 8 JunLos minerales críticos de Bolivia
    52. 30 MayMoltbot no tiene alma. Tiene un sistema de instrucciones

    sala.red My videos on sala.red

  3. HukMila and Abundant Intelligences, MontrealArt, VR, Technology

    I'm expanding Huk into a collective intelligence model, where Indigenous AI, dance, affective computing and ecology meet.

    The research, at United Notions Film

  4. 28 OctYakumamaMozFest 2026, Fabra i Coats, BarcelonaArt, VR, Technology
    A silver robotic whale rises from the flooded salt flat of Uyuni at dusk.

    There are two of her. One is printed. The other swims in the salt flat on the screen. They share one mood, so they change colour at the same time. Neither is the copy.

    Ch'ixi is an Aymara word for a grey made of black and white that never mix. Both at once, and they stay that way. This is a ch'ixi installation.

    The salt flat was an ocean. The ocean left. She stayed.

    She sees you. Her eyes follow whoever is closest. She hears you without understanding a word, because she never learned any. Sing to her and she answers.

    She sings in a language she invents as she goes and never says the same word twice. When nobody touches her, she writes a poem instead.

    She still hunts. There are fish out there and she goes after them.

    Everything she is runs on a machine in this room. Nothing she sees or hears is recorded, transcribed or sent anywhere. What she learns here stays with her, and then it is gone.

    Under the crust she lies on is the largest lithium reserve on earth. It is taken by pumping the brine up and letting the sun take the water. The water does not come back.

    Built in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

  5. 24 SepLas AwichasUNGA81 week, Foreign Policy lounge, New YorkArt

    Las Awichas in augmented reality. Postcards are the trigger.

  6. 24 SepOvercoming the Imagination ChokepointA simulation by Foreign Policy and the Mozilla Foundation, UNGA81, New YorkTalk
    Three people talk in front of a banner that reads Overcoming the Imagination Chokepoint.
    At the simulation table, behind her place card, Violeta Ayala raises an envelope marked Las Awichas.
    Photo: Foreign Policy
    Three people talk over coffee beside the banner of the simulation; one holds an envelope marked Las Awichas.
    Photo: Foreign Policy
    Participants sit around a square of tables with place cards.
    Photo: Foreign Policy
    Two women talk among the guests in a bright room.
    Photo: Foreign Policy
    Three people talk in front of a screen of falling light.
    Photo: Foreign Policy

    I take part in Overcoming the Imagination Chokepoint, a simulation by Foreign Policy and the Mozilla Foundation, during the week of UNGA81. It runs under the Chatham House Rule.

    Who are the creators? What's fair compensation? Who gets to have an imagination?

  7. 24 AugFive Minutes With Violeta Ayala: Embodied AI, Indigenous Movement, and Data SovereigntyAbundant IntelligencesInterview
  8. 12 AugLa primera Mozilla Fellow de Boliviasala.redPress

2025

  • Todo Nace Desde Lo Pequeño
  • Todo Nace Desde Lo Pequeño
  • Todo Nace Desde Lo Pequeño
  • Women in polleras and bowler hats dance in a plaza at night.Bolivia, un país que camina con sus ancestras
  • A university campus with large sculptures and a SURREALITY sign.SURREALITY 1.0, the exhibition film
  • A street vendor in an apron stands beside her cart and her vegetables.Caseras, cripto y caos: la revolución de abajo hacia arriba
  • A neon projection titled El Cholaverso on a wall at El Martadero, Cochabamba, 16 May 2025.El Cholaverso
  • Visitors look at small white jaguar sculptures in front of a projection of a child's face.El Cholaverso
  • A woman in a patterned coat speaks into a microphone at NewImages, Paris.Jury, XR competition
  • Four panellists on a stage at NewImages, with a note about the panel written over the photograph.AI and Immersive Environments: Rethinking Creative Processes and Interactions
  • Visitors in a dark tent of projections, flowers and screens. The words Huk V3 above.Huk the Jaguaress
  • Visitors in silhouette before a projection of a jaguar figure against a red and green sky.Huk the Jaguaress
  • A projected tree with blue roots beside a wall of text, and a white jaguar figure among plants.Huk the JaguaressPhoto: Maxime Raynault, @trajprod, Forum des images
  • Plants and glowing figures on plinths in front of a projection of a forest.Huk the JaguaressPhoto: Maxime Raynault, @trajprod, Forum des images
  • Visitors in silhouette before a blue projection of a jungle, between plinths with plants.Huk the JaguaressPhoto: Maxime Raynault, @trajprod, Forum des images
  • A silver robotic jaguar walks above the clouds at sunset, with a silver hummingbird.Huk the Jaguaress, trailer
  • Visitors among projections in a white gallery. Green letters: Huk: The Jaguaress, a digital robot.Huk the Jaguaress
  • Visitors walk through a gallery hung with white curtains and coloured light.Huk the Jaguaress
  • Five people pose in front of a CPH:DOX backdrop. One holds a plant and an award.Jury, Eurimages Innovation Award
  • Two people talk on a stage in front of a slide of green boxes.Adaptive Storytelling: Crafting Frameworks for the AI + Automation Era
  • Screens of a chatbot on a purple and green page.The Chatbot and I
  • A grid of many small photographs from 2024.Fragments of 2024
  1. NovThe fight for ComtecoCochabambaRevolution

    For 88 days the senior shareholders of Comteco, the telecom cooperative of Cochabamba, hold a vigil for elections, audits and answers. I film the vigil and stream it as it happens. TikTok becomes a living archive of the protest. The full story comes on sala.red.

    Comteco and the fight for transparency When documentary begins to think

  2. 19 SepTodo Nace Desde Lo PequeñoFestival Ollantay, El Martadero, CochabambaArt

    A live performance, 20 minutes, where Andean cosmology meets AI. Four dancers embody elemental spirits, Earth, Water, Wind and Jaguar, and move through states from seeds to digital networks. The AI answers a mythology we built together over seven weeks.

    Dancers, generative imagery and spectators share one feedback loop: the movements of the performers are captured, transformed by generative AI and projected as a scenography that keeps changing.

    We fine-tune a local AI model. Local means our own computers, our own energy, no internet. Our data. Our rules.

    koa.xyz/tao

  3. 20 AugBolivia, un país que camina con sus ancestrasBlogWriting
    Women in polleras and bowler hats dance in a plaza at night.

    Read

  4. 26 JunLas AwichasSURREALITY, HKUST, GuangzhouArt
    A university campus with large sculptures and a SURREALITY sign.

    Eight robotic spirit animals from the Nazca Lines, in a large multi-user mixed reality, 26 June to 26 August 2025. Visitors meet robotic creatures in a dreamlike world, and see how our grandmothers shaped our world as we now shape the future with artificial intelligence.

    Watch: SURREALITY 1.0, the exhibition film

  5. 31 MayComputational Creativity Co-Creation LabCochabambaArt

    We bring paper cuts to life with Stream Diffusion, a kinetic camera and a Raspberry Pi. Two projectors light the room: one runs on a Python system that answers in real time, the other on TouchDesigner.

    Collage figures dance with real people. The AI sees us, translates us and projects us. Paper, pixels, code and a Raspberry Pi, alive together.

  6. 30 MayCaseras, cripto y caos: la revolución de abajo hacia arribaBlogWriting
    A street vendor in an apron stands beside her cart and her vegetables.

    Read

  7. 16 MayEl CholaversoLarga Noche de Museos, El Martadero, CochabambaArt
    A neon projection titled El Cholaverso on a wall at El Martadero, Cochabamba, 16 May 2025.

    A community gallery turns into a neon dream forest. Five projectors wash the walls with city glyphs generated by AI on site, while 3D printed jaguars shimmer under living skins that answer every move in the room.

    Built in 24 hours and finished live on the floor: we push code, retrain models and remap projections in front of the crowd, and the visitors shape the images in real time. More than 1,000 visitors.

  8. 22 Apr“We are living a technological revolution”XR MustInterview
  9. 11 AprJury, XR competitionNewImages Festival, ParisAward
    A woman in a patterned coat speaks into a microphone at NewImages, Paris.

    More

  10. 10 AprAI and Immersive Environments: Rethinking Creative Processes and InteractionsParisTalk
    Four panellists on a stage at NewImages, with a note about the panel written over the photograph.

    More

  11. 9 AprHuk the JaguaressNewImages Festival, Forum des Images, ParisArt
    Visitors in a dark tent of projections, flowers and screens. The words Huk V3 above.

    A pop-up tent of 80 m² beside Les Halles becomes the jungle cell of Huk the Jaguaress (2024). Five projectors wrap three walls and the ceiling in living vines and flame, all driven by the contextual AI of Huk. Six jaguars of recycled PLA, each in its own diorama of orchids and monstera, take on new skins when a step or a whisper reaches the sensors, and a luminous hummingbird stitches the space together.

    Across the day Huk moves through three personas, cub, huntress and elder, speaks French and Quechua, and makes more than an hour of original film loops on the fly. Shown out of competition, 9 to 13 April 2025.

    Watch: Huk the Jaguaress, trailer

  12. MarHuk the JaguaressCPH:DOX INTER:ACTIVE, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, CopenhagenArt
    A silver robotic jaguar walks above the clouds at sunset, with a silver hummingbird.

    Huk the Jaguaress (2024), an AI installation co-created with Yasmeen Hitti. She uses robotics and runs locally. We weave five AIs to give Huk the power to fight the burning of the Amazon. She sees through a robotic camera, feels through sensors, speaks through a crafted voice and turns what she perceives into cinema in real time.

    A white cube of 4 by 4.6 metres becomes the origami den of Huk. Three projectors wash two walls and the floor in jungle light, and six jaguar sculptures glow among ferns and orchids. Mid-run, the AI notices visitors folding paper into tiny animals and asks for more. By the last day 700 origamis ring her pedestal, and each new crane or jaguar changes the colours and the sound.

    Watch: Huk the Jaguaress, trailer

  13. 28 MarJury, Eurimages Innovation AwardCPH:DOX, CopenhagenAward
    Five people pose in front of a CPH:DOX backdrop. One holds a plant and an award.

    More

  14. 25 MarAdaptive Storytelling: Crafting Frameworks for the AI + Automation EraCopenhagenTalk
    Two people talk on a stage in front of a slide of green boxes.

    More

  15. 5 MarBest Interactive Experience, AIDCAustralian International Documentary Conference, MelbourneAward

    For Las Awichas.

  16. FebFAIR FUTURE: Feminist AIVIP Studio, University of NottinghamArt

    A residency I co-lead with Yasmeen Hitti: workshops and hack jams on collective intelligence and care.

    At United Notions Film

  17. 14 JanThe Chatbot and IBlogWriting
    Screens of a chatbot on a purple and green page.

    Read

  18. 8 JanApproachesCifraPress
  19. 2 JanFragments of 2024BlogWriting
    A grid of many small photographs from 2024.

    Read

2024

  • Two women on a video call, with the words: form of storytelling.From Stories to Systems: The Future of Film
  • A jaguar on a screen, among flowers and projected jaguar patterns.Huk the Jaguaress
  • Flowers and a glowing jaguar sculpture on a plinth, with a screen behind.Huk the Jaguaress
  • In a dark hall, a figure stands before a screen of snowy mountains, between jaguar sculptures.Huk the Jaguaress
  • Four speakers in armchairs on a stage, under a screen with their portraits and names: Catherine Lu, Violeta Ayala, Pochang Wu and Suji Yan.Asia Blockchain Summit, ABS2024
  • The audience of ABS2024, seen from the stage, in rows of chairs marked ABS.Asia Blockchain Summit, ABS2024
  • A speaker at a lectern waves beside a screen showing a video call.Salzburg Global Fellow
  • A woman holds a Los Tiempos microphone in front of a Los Tiempos backdrop.Pódcast Los Tiempos
  • Avatars in a virtual gallery look at photographs.GLOW: Illuminating Innovation, with Sarah Atkinson and Lisa Jamhoury
  • A woman on a television broadcast of Sayubu Multimedia, Cochabamba.Radio Sayubu
  • Las Awichas
  • A stone building on the Strand in London, with the words Las Awichas, interactive AR.Las Awichas
  • A silver robotic hummingbird flies in front of the entrance of Tate Modern.Las Awichas, the film
  • Two visitors read a wall of portraits lit in pink and violet.Las Awichas
  • A large black panel of silver animals around a grandmother's face, on a stone building. A man looks at it.Las Awichas
  • Two visitors stand before a wall of eight portraits lit in pink and blue.Las Awichas
  • A stone corner building on a wet London street.Las Awichas
  • A hand holds a silver hummingbird figure against a violet sky.Las Awichas
  • A silver robotic hummingbird.Las Awichas
  • A silver robotic hummingbird with spread wings.Las Awichas
  • A round view into a 3D world: avatars stand in a street with a silver jaguar.Las Awichas
  • Green hills and cactus under a sky full of clouds.AGUA
  • A person walks across a dry, stony riverbed.AGUA
  • An old woman in a hat and shawl gestures in front of an adobe house.AGUA
  • A woman crouches in a dry yard beside an adobe wall.AGUA
  • Dusk over dark rooftops.AGUA
  • An old woman in a hat embraces a girl in front of an adobe house.AGUA
  • A woman holds a silver jaguar figure to the camera, with the words: my goal now is to become a real.Film Futurism
  1. 9 OctFrom Stories to Systems: The Future of FilmYouTubeTalk
    Two women on a video call, with the words: form of storytelling.

    Watch: From Stories to Systems: The Future of Film

  2. SepHuk the JaguaressMila, Quebec AI Institute, and the UQAM Gallery, MontrealArt
    A jaguar on a screen, among flowers and projected jaguar patterns.

    Huk the Jaguaress is born here, in 2024: Huk 1.0, made in ten full-time weeks of the first Mila AI art residency. She uses robotics and runs locally, on our own computers, with no cloud. A spare lab becomes her cradle: three projectors, a depth camera and six moss-wrapped plinths are enough for the prototype to breathe, speak and make micro-films on the fly.

    The residency ends with a two-day installation at the UQAM Gallery, where code, sculpture and living plants knit into a cinema loop that answers the room. Supported by Mila, Google DeepMind, Abundant Intelligences, CIFAR, Hexagram, Mosaic Canada and IVADO.

    Watch: Huk the Jaguaress, trailer

  3. AugAsia Blockchain Summit, ABS2024Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, TaipeiTalk
    Four speakers in armchairs on a stage, under a screen with their portraits and names: Catherine Lu, Violeta Ayala, Pochang Wu and Suji Yan.

    On stage with Catherine Lu, Pochang Wu and Suji Yan, founder of Mask Network. Vitalik Buterin sits in the front row.

    ABS2024

  4. 16 AugVioleta Ayala : immersion dans le métavers néo-andin futuristePanorama-cinémaInterview
  5. 1 AugIndigenous Futurisms as Planetary AssemblageHyundai ArtlabPress
  6. 8 MaySalzburg Global FellowCreating Futures: Art and AI for Tomorrow's Narratives, Salzburg Global SeminarAward
    A speaker at a lectern waves beside a screen showing a video call.

    More

  7. 6 MayPódcast Los TiemposCochabambaTalk
    A woman holds a Los Tiempos microphone in front of a Los Tiempos backdrop.

    More

  8. AprBest Director, New York Women in Film & TelevisionReelAbilities Film Festival, New YorkAward

    For La Lucha. The NYWIFT Award for Excellence in Directing.

    The Q+A in New York NYWIFT

  9. 29 AprLa cineasta Violeta Ayala, elegida entre las 40 voces más prominentes de IALos TiemposPress
  10. 25 AprGLOW: Illuminating Innovation, with Sarah Atkinson and Lisa JamhourySpatialTalk
    Avatars in a virtual gallery look at photographs.

    More

  11. 19 AprPiden ayudar a rescatar a dos delfines rosados atrapados en un río en Villa TunariLos TiemposPress
  12. 18 Apr"La Lucha", un documental sobre la pelea de las personas con discapacidad por sus derechos, se estrena en las plazas del paísVisión 360Press
  13. 18 AprVioleta Ayala vuelve a Cochabamba con su elogiado filme: ‘La Lucha’OpiniónInterview
  14. 17 AprRadio SayubuCochabambaTalk
    A woman on a television broadcast of Sayubu Multimedia, Cochabamba.

    More

  15. 6 AprLa Lucha Q+A with director Violeta Ayala and NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez, moderated by Faye GinsburgYouTubeInterview
  16. 7 MarLas AwichasGLOW: Illuminating Innovation, the Strand, King's College LondonArt
    A stone building on the Strand in London, with the words Las Awichas, interactive AR.

    An original augmented reality commission for GLOW, in the Arcade on the Strand, 7 March to 20 April 2024. Grandmothers weave magic into robotic animals, from geckos to jaguars, who answer your hands and your voice.

    A street window of 6 by 3.5 metres becomes an embodied computer: strands of neon tullmas, Andean tassels, drive the sensors, 3D printed animal totems become haptic processors, and AI portraits in Quechua act as living memory cells. Scan the glass and eight robotic spirits, jaguar, condor, hummingbird and more, burst out in web AR. More than 8,000 people play it on their phones. Indoors, a VR twin lets remote audiences drift through the same world, and it lives on in Spatial.

    Watch: Las Awichas, the film King's College London GLOW in Spatial

  17. 7 MarLas Awichas, 2024King's College LondonPress
  18. 1 MarProgramme Announced For GLOW: Illuminating InnovationMirage NewsPress
  19. 7 FebGroundbreaking digital art by women in tech showcased at King'sKing's College LondonPress
  20. 31 JanAGUABlogWriting
    Green hills and cactus under a sky full of clouds.

    Read

2023

  • A mural of a red feathered serpent with a rider.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • An aisle of a market, stacked with goods.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A food stall in a market with bowls of mote.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A street vendor's blue cart on a corner.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A narrow street hung with decorations. A man carries a tuba.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • Inside a taxi, the driver at the wheel.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A band in mariachi suits plays in a park.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A wide street with cyclists and pedicabs.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A mural of a red feathered serpent with a rider, beside a pavement.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A brightly painted bus on a corner.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A man sits on a bench in a plaza.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A plaza at night under a street lamp.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A street vendor sits with her goods in front of a wall of graffiti.Postales de Cochabamba 2023
  • A slide about techno-authoritarianism beside a woman on a video call.AI as Alchemy
  • Three women on a panel at the Centro Cultural de España. One speaks into a microphone.Las Infinitas Posibilidades de Creacion con la Inteligencia Artificial
  • Visitors in VR headsets in a booth hung with Prison X artwork. SXSW Sydney, October 2023.Prison X
  • A young woman in a VR headset holds the controllers, in front of woven textiles and glowing tiles.Prison X
  • Two visitors in VR headsets at a table covered with an Andean textile, before a wall of Prison X artwork.Prison X
  • A child in a VR headset reaches out, while another child sits on the floor.Prison X
  • Six people on a video call.Ethics, Anonymity & Deep Fakes: A Conversation
  • A collage of a woman in many outfits, over flowers and painted lettering.Exploring the Future of XR & AI: A Conversation with Kent Bye
  • Still from La Lucha: two women in hats speak in a street.La Lucha, trailer
  • A laurel: 2023 Games for Change Festival, special recognition, XR innovation, XR Brain Jam.Woven Worlds
  • Neo-Andean fashion and synthography
  • Neo-Andean fashion and synthography
  • Neo-Andean fashion and synthography
  • An AI-made portrait: a figure in a silver headdress and a woven, armoured outfit.Neo-Andean fashion and synthography
  • An AI-made figure: a robot in a red woven poncho and headdress, against a circuit board.Neo-Andean fashion and synthography
  • An AI-made figure: a robot in a pink woven poncho, with flowers on its helmet.Neo-Andean fashion and synthography
  • Melbourne 2023: a man at a laptop on stage, a woman with raised arms, and screens with avatars.Neo-Andean fashion and synthography
  • A woman in an Aboriginal flag T-shirt at a rally in the rain.Unmasking Gendered Violence: Lidia Thorpe, Trans Rights and the Call for Unity
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made silver sequined dress.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in AI-made wings of gold feathers.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made top of woven net.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, with AI-made wings of stained glass.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made strapless black top.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made cream tulle gown.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made fringed shawl of turquoise and orange feathers.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made purple shawl.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made striped orange shawl and green skirt.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made folded silver jacket.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made black jacket with glitches of light.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made iridescent jacket.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in AI-made jewelled armour.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made top of iridescent scales.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made spiked jacket with flashes of pink.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made orange bodysuit.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made black wrap coat.Digital Fashion
  • A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made purple dress and a gold necklace.Digital Fashion
  • An audience in a theatre faces a screen showing a 3D character beside a graffitied wall.Film Futurism
  • A panel on a theatre stage, under a large image of an Andean woman in a beaded headdress.Decolonising virtual spaces
  • A woman with a braid at a desk of neon lights beside a robot face.Film, Futurism and Blockchain
  • A woman in black speaks into a microphone to a seated audience.AI, XR & new forms of Social Elimination
  1. Games+Art

    A collection of immersive and interactive short experiences that fuse gaming, film, interactivity and immersion to reimagine the very concept of storytelling.

    Each experience is made with semantics, synthography and my own media. A journey into a new cinematic language.

    This space is a work in progress, where the journey matters more than the end.

    Play Kaleidoscopic Pens Play Interactive Neon Poem Play We Play Therefore We Exist Play Thread Fall Play Vizcacha Play Not here to fuck spiders

  2. Experimenting: interactive video wallsArt

    Touch or click anywhere on the screen to make a burst of animation. Drag the animations around to make your own composition.

    Play Video wall 1 Play Video wall 2 Play Video wall 3 Play Video wall 4

  3. XR Innovation, XR Brain JamGames for Change, New YorkAward

    For Woven Worlds.

  4. 17 DecPostales de Cochabamba 2023BlogWriting
    A mural of a red feathered serpent with a rider.

    Read

  5. 8 DecAI as AlchemyCape TownTalk
    A slide about techno-authoritarianism beside a woman on a video call.

    More

  6. 14 NovLas Infinitas Posibilidades de Creacion con la Inteligencia ArtificialAsuncionTalk
    Three women on a panel at the Centro Cultural de España. One speaks into a microphone.

    More

  7. OctLa LuchaSXSW SydneyFilm

    After its premiere at BlackStar, La Lucha screens at SXSW Sydney.

    Watch on sala.video lalucha.red Watch: La Lucha, trailer

  8. OctPrison XSXSW Sydney, International Convention CentreArt
    Visitors in VR headsets in a booth hung with Prison X artwork. SXSW Sydney, October 2023.

    A double booth. A black-box bay becomes a Neo-Andean sala de estar, with aguayo textiles on every wall and couch. Guests sink into leather sofas, put on headsets and vanish inside the myth, while their avatars dance across six LED screens above them. Two VR stations, 300 players in three days, each journey a full 30 minutes.

    Watch on Steam prisonx.red

  9. OctSet 3: an interactive video wallSXSW SydneyArt

    Touch or click anywhere on the screen to make a burst of animation. Drag the animations around to make your own composition.

    Play Set 3, SXSW Sydney

  10. 19 OctEthics, Anonymity & Deep Fakes: A ConversationLos AngelesTalk
    Six people on a video call.

    More

  11. 2 OctCreating in Fast-Forward: A Journey in Rapid Prototyping with Runway MLBlogWriting
  12. 18 Sep'La Lucha', un documental sobre la resistencia y dignidad de las personas discapacitadas en BoliviaVoz de AméricaInterview
  13. 18 SepFacing the State from a WheelchairVistPress
  14. 8 SepEnfrentarse al Estado desde una silla de ruedasVistPress
  15. 2 SepExploring the Future of XR & AI: A Conversation with Kent ByeBlogWriting
    A collage of a woman in many outfits, over flowers and painted lettering.

    Read

  16. AugLa LuchaBlackStar Film Festival, Philadelphia, Official CompetitionFilm
    Still from La Lucha: two women in hats speak in a street.

    A caravan of people with disabilities crosses the Andes to La Paz to fight for their rights. World premiere. 90 minutes.

    Watch on sala.video lalucha.red Watch: La Lucha, trailer

  17. 26 Aug#1254: Using AI to Upskill Creative Sovereignty with XR Artist Violeta AyalaVoices of VRInterview
  18. 5 AugD'Lo Interviews Violeta Ayala - The Daily Jawn Stage - BlackStar Film Festival 2023YouTubeInterview
  19. 4 AugFuturist Weaver of Stories: Violeta Ayala on Filmmaking, Tech, and Inclusive NarrativesThe Truth in This ArtInterview
  20. 31 JulLa Lucha - Un Viaje de Valentía con la Directora Violeta AyalaYouTubeInterview
  21. 18 JulWoven WorldsGames for Change, New YorkArt
    A laurel: 2023 Games for Change Festival, special recognition, XR innovation, XR Brain Jam.

    A VR interactive story game, 15 minutes. It receives the special recognition for XR innovation at the XR Brain Jam of Games for Change.

    itch.io

  22. JunFlower StampsArt

    An interactive piece where flowers bloom at your touch or click. Each touch makes a flower, and the picture keeps changing.

    Play Flower Stamps

  23. 22 May“I believe in the near future the access to artificial intelligence is going to be a human right.” - Violeta AyalaXR MustInterview
  24. MarNeo-Andean fashion and synthographyArt
    An AI-made portrait: a figure in a silver headdress and a woven, armoured outfit.

    Digital Fashion, on the blog

  25. 23 MarUnmasking Gendered Violence: Lidia Thorpe, Trans Rights and the Call for UnityBlogWriting
    A woman in an Aboriginal flag T-shirt at a rally in the rain.

    Read

  26. 14 MarDigital FashionBlogWriting
    A woman in profile at a microphone, in an AI-made silver sequined dress.

    Read

  27. 5 MarFilm FuturismMelbourneTalk
    An audience in a theatre faces a screen showing a 3D character beside a graffitied wall.

    More

  28. 20 FebDecolonising virtual spacesAdelaideTalk
    A panel on a theatre stage, under a large image of an Andean woman in a beaded headdress.

    More

  29. 9 FebFilm, Futurism and BlockchainBerlinTalk
    A woman with a braid at a desk of neon lights beside a robot face.

    More

  30. 23 JanAI, XR & new forms of Social EliminationLa PazTalk
    A woman in black speaks into a microphone to a seated audience.

    More

  31. 16 JanEl PostvideoBlogWriting

2022

  • An AI portrait in black and white: an old Andean woman reaches out of the dark.LAS AWICHAS
  • An AI portrait in black and white: an old Andean woman, her hair lifted by wind.LAS AWICHAS
  • An AI portrait in black and white: an old Andean woman in a knitted cap, hands folded.LAS AWICHAS
  • The poster of The Fight: a man shouts in front of riot police.The Fight - Panel
  • The poster of The Fight: a man shouts in front of riot police.La Pelea - Conversatorio
  • A card: VR Fest MX, Violeta Ayala, El Cholaverso.El Cholaverso
  • A large black and white portrait of an Andean grandmother hangs in a white gallery.Las Awichas
  • Visitors fill a gallery hung with large black and white portraits, under a light sign reading Las Awichas.Las Awichas
  • A large portrait of an old woman hangs above a mirror and vases of flowers on a cement floor.Las Awichas
  • A round view into a 3D gallery: an avatar in a pink jacket walks between portraits.Las Awichas
  • A woman speaks on a video stream titled La unión hace la fuerza.La unión hace la fuerza: Metaverso latinoamericano
  • Four people sit in front of a projection of a dancer beside a graffitied wall.Prison X & Building the Neo Andean Metaverse
  • A card: Design Futures Lab 2022, Envision and materialise your own digital identity, Violeta Ayala.Envision and Materialise your own Digital Identity
  • A woman speaks at a laptop in front of a backdrop of sky.Futurism keynote, William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar
  1. 8 DecEl Jatun RunaBlogWriting
  2. 12 NovMocapBlogWriting
  3. 11 NovExpylabBlogWriting
  4. 10 NovLAS AWICHASBlogWriting
    An AI portrait in black and white: an old Andean woman reaches out of the dark.

    Read

  5. 10 NovThe Fight - PanelBlogWriting
    The poster of The Fight: a man shouts in front of riot police.

    Read

  6. 10 NovLa Pelea - ConversatorioBlogWriting
    The poster of The Fight: a man shouts in front of riot police.

    Read

  7. 25 OctEl CholaversoMexico CityTalk
    A card: VR Fest MX, Violeta Ayala, El Cholaverso.

    More

  8. 21 SepLas AwichasEl Martadero, CochabambaArt
    A large black and white portrait of an Andean grandmother hangs in a white gallery.

    The world premiere, September to December 2022, in a hall of 300 m². AI and post-photography: portraits of Andean grandmothers and their spirit animals.

    A raw cement hall becomes one glowing artery: an eight-metre light bar flashes LAS AWICHAS in rainbow Quechua, and below it eight AI portraits of Quechua grandmothers, 1.8 metres tall, line a 30-metre corridor like silent guardians. It lives on as a WebXR exhibition in Spatial.

    The exhibition in Spatial

  9. 18 AugLa unión hace la fuerza: Metaverso latinoamericanoSantiagoTalk
    A woman speaks on a video stream titled La unión hace la fuerza.

    More

  10. 26 JulAwichasEphemera, koa.xyzWriting
  11. 20 JulPhoto FactsEphemera, koa.xyzWriting
  12. 16 JunRumbo al “cholaverso”: Prison X, el videojuego carcelario bolivianoYahoo FinanzasPress
  13. 9 JunPrison X & Building the Neo Andean MetaverseParisTalk
    Four people sit in front of a projection of a dancer beside a graffitied wall.

    More

  14. 25 MarEnvision and Materialise your own Digital IdentityCape TownTalk
    A card: Design Futures Lab 2022, Envision and materialise your own digital identity, Violeta Ayala.

    More

  15. 18 MarFuturism keynote, William and Louise Greaves Filmmaker SeminarBlackStar, PhiladelphiaTalk
    A woman speaks at a laptop in front of a backdrop of sky.

    More

  16. FebYabun 2022SubstackWriting

2021

  • A round view into a voxel world of red, yellow and white blocks.KOA.XYZ
  • Maria Corvera in a VR headset holds up a controller, in black and white.KOA.XYZ
  • A woman with her hand on her head, in black and white.KOA.XYZ
  • A woman with a VR headset on her forehead, before a wall with the words: we are working against a techno authoritarian future.KOA.XYZ
  • A man in glasses, in black and white.KOA.XYZ
  • A man in a T-shirt, in profile, in black and white.KOA.XYZ
  • Four people on a video call.Making the Metaverse, part 1: case studies
  • A woman on a video call holds up a phone showing a 3D character.Creativas LATAM XR
  • A figure in a virtual scene beside a slide about XR.Film Futurism
  • Bringing waterCover: Bringing water to the Navajo Nation, Navajo Water Project/DigDeep
  • The poster of Prison X: The Devil and The Sun, with masked Andean characters.Prison X: The Devil and The Sun
  • Six panellists on director's chairs, under a screen with Violeta Ayala's name and artwork.Editing History, a Sundance panel
  1. The Jaguar GlossaryWriting

    A personal glossary of technology for storytellers, from 360 video to three.js.

    Open the glossary

  2. KOA.XYZVoxelsArt
    A round view into a voxel world of red, yellow and white blocks.

    K'OA is an Andean ceremony of reciprocity to the Pachamama, Mother Earth. We are building the Neo-Andean metaverse.

    koa.xyz KOA in Voxels

  3. Awards for Prison X3 honoursAward
    • CentrepieceGames for Change, New York
    • Veer Future Award, finalistCannes XR, France
    • XR Immersive ArcadeGames for Change, New York
  4. 10 DecMaking the Metaverse, part 1: case studiesDC/DOX, Washington DCTalk
    Four people on a video call.

    More

  5. 4 NovCreativas LATAM XRSantiagoTalk
    A woman on a video call holds up a phone showing a 3D character.

    More

  6. 21 OctVirtual Land Grabs: Doorways to Independent FuturismImmersePress
  7. 4 AugHonourable mention, Indigenous Futurism Model-Making CompetitionIndigenous Scholars of Architecture, Planning and Design (ISAPD)Award

    For KOA.XYZ.

    Center for Architecture

  8. 16 JulFilm FuturismGames for Change, New YorkTalk
    A figure in a virtual scene beside a slide about XR.

    More

  9. 9 MarNoPro Podcast Episode 286: Violeta Ayala, creator of ‘Prison X’No ProsceniumInterview
  10. FebBringing waterThe Community BoardZine
    The words Bringing water above a desert at dusk, with a yellow water truck on the horizon.

    Who is in production? I'm in post-production, and we have just finished the beta testing of Prison X. The gap is growing between traditional films and 3D, and we're not talking about the ethics, or about how we will own our own work.

    Zine edited by Annette Lin. Notes transcribed by Maya Sudarkasa.

    Read the zine (PDF)

  11. 22 FebVR as a tool to democratize animation – (Prison X)XR MustInterview
  12. 7 FebHow New VR Projects Are Exposing Social InjusticesIndieWirePress
  13. 2 FebPrisoners of a System: An Interview with the Creators of VR Series ‘Prison X’Rough CutInterview
  14. JanPrison X: The Devil and The SunSundance Film Festival, New FrontierArt
    The poster of Prison X: The Devil and The Sun, with masked Andean characters.

    A VR animation, 35 minutes, set in the San Sebastián prison of Cochabamba. It premieres at Sundance, then travels to Cannes and festivals and museums around the world. Art in America: it "asserts Indigenous aesthetics and cosmologies."

    Watch on Steam prisonx.red

  15. 26 JanVirtual reality film takes you inside infamous South American jailThe Sydney Morning HeraldPress
  16. 8 JanEditing History, a Sundance panelUtahTalk
    Six panellists on director's chairs, under a screen with Violeta Ayala's name and artwork.

    More

2020

  • Pasanaku, Hui, SusuCover: Ekeka the Goddess of Abundance, woodcut by Esculapio Perez
  • Decision-making and collective leadership models
  • A woman speaks on a video call. An AFTRS logo in the corner.Emerging, Gifted and X with Violeta Ayala
  • A crowd marches through a Sydney street, many in face masks.Black Lives Matter
  • A family with tape over their mouths holds a sign: Rent strike, day 9.Rent strike
  • A drawing of a woman in a long coat above two blue jaguars.My spirit animal, the jaguar is in danger of extinction, just as my own spirit feels trapped in the "developed" world. The Jaguaress 2020.
  1. Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesAward

    I'm the first Quechua member of the Academy.

  2. Best Short FilmThe Right Cut, VenezuelaAward

    For The Fight.

  3. DecPasanaku, Hui, SusuThe Community BoardZine
    The words Pasanaku, Hui, Susu beside a pink and violet woodcut of Ekeka, the goddess of abundance.

    Our second meeting falls on 8 December 2020, the day water starts trading on Wall Street. I talk about the heart: small and simple, the hardest working muscle, it does everything, production, development, distribution. Owning our work is key for our liberation, and I want us to get into distribution as a group.

    When we speak of pooling money, I add a note: in Bolivia, this is called pasanaku. Zine edited by Annette Lin.

    Read the zine (PDF)

  4. NovDecision-making and collective leadership modelsThe Community BoardZine
    Red hand-drawn letters on black: Decision-making and collective leadership models: non-hierarchical leadership structures.

    Sonya Childress, Sabaah Folayan, Assia Boundaoui and I fund the Community Board: thirteen documentary filmmakers, and each meeting becomes a zine. In this one I write Power and true revolution, from the inaugural speech of David Choquehuanca, Vice President of Bolivia: we haven't changed the nature of power, power has changed us.

    Zine edited by Annette Lin.

    Read the zine (PDF)

  5. 22 SepI host a #QuarantineFilmSeries with Violeta Ayala, Director of "Cocaine Prison."FacebookPress
  6. JulPlan of Action: BIPOC Documentary Professionals Respond to the Pandemic and Protest MovementFilmmaker MagazineWriting

    With Claire Cao and Miasarah Lai.

    Read

  7. 2 JulEmerging, Gifted and X with Violeta AyalaSydneyTalk
    A woman speaks on a video call. An AFTRS logo in the corner.

    More

  8. JunBlack Lives MatterSydneyRevolution
    A crowd marches through a Sydney street, many in face masks.

    "No Justice, No Peace."

  9. AprRent strikeSydneyRevolution
    A family with tape over their mouths holds a sign: Rent strike, day 9.

    People are losing their lives and livelihoods, we can’t see our loved ones, our five-year-old doesn’t go to school and the real estate agent says it’s business as usual? It’s morally wrong to demand rent from people that could potentially lose everything, even their lives or the lives of our loved ones during this pandemic.

2019

  • A watercolour of a jaguar and her cub.Showekon
  • Character references: two jaguars in silhouette on a tree.Showekon
  • Newspaper clippings and photographs about the prison on Coati island, arranged as a collage.Vitaliano Grageda Sahonero, 1928 to 2019
  • A man in a straw hat in a field of maize.El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido. Carajo. When death tear us apart. We will find each other again and again. El Comunista (1928 - 2019)
  • An old man in a black hat and a red shirt in a street with arcades.Vitaliano Grageda Sahonero, 1928 to 2019
  • Protesters in Sydney, some with painted faces, carry signs reading Koala Revolution.Koala Revolution
  • A poster: Revolución Jaguar, the streets are ours, Friday 4 October, Plaza 14 de Septiembre, 6 pm, Cochabamba.Jaguar Revolution
  • A woman raises a camera above a crowd at night, with Bolivian flags.As the fires continued, hundreds of thousands joined us in the streets in the entire country. (Oct 2019, Cochabamba, Bolivia)
  • A woman with her face painted as a jaguar, in a leopard-print headband, at a protest.Jaguar Revolution
  • Women with painted faces at a microphone hold signs: enough, we need international help, #SOSChiquitania.Jaguar Revolution (2019)
  • A mother and a child with painted faces hold signs demanding the repeal of the laws that let agribusiness burn the forest.Jaguar Revolution
  • Women and a child with painted faces march with a sign: we need international help, #SOSChiquitania.We took it to the streets in Bolivia because the Chiquitania and Amazonia were burning with millions of animals inside.
  • Four people on a stage set for The Early Show, between IFEX banners.The Early Show, with Iyad el-Baghdadi and Bobi Wine
  • A woman holds a sign: la revolución será de las putas o no será.Las Putas (2019)
  1. ShowekonIn developmentArt
    A watercolour of a jaguar and her cub.

    After the birth of her twin cubs, Showekon, the Goddess of the Amazon, struggles to protect her home from the threat of the bipeds. Mixing immersive VR cinema and hand painted scenes in the style of children's storybooks, Showekon is an animated series about endangered animals of the world.

  2. Vitaliano Grageda Sahonero, 1928 to 2019My story
    Newspaper clippings and photographs about the prison on Coati island, arranged as a collage.

    It's hard to sleep tonight, I can feel your presence. I know you're here with me. We'll meet again in every life that comes after this one, and when we do, we'll talk about Domitila Chungara, Marx, Filemón Escobar, the Chinese Communist Party, perestroika, colonization, Quechuas, how they killed Che, how he was betrayed and you shouted "traitors" in court, even though it cost you more years in prison. You'll tell me how much you love traveling and the road, and how you'll never tire of fighting. You'll recount your trip to Paris and how you drank all the whiskey at the social club like it was chicha. You'll tell me about your time in prison, on the Island of Coati, and how I'll always be your favorite granddaughter. You'll sing "El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido" to me in Quechua, and ask me to sing it back to you like the king. We'll laugh until our bellies ache, and you'll make humintas with a little extra flavor this time. The people united will never be defeated, damn it. I know you're here, Vitaliano Grageda Sahonero, but I'll call you Soto, and we'll both laugh at the priests saying "churuschus chus, amen Jesus". Rest in strength with your achachilas. I miss you, papi Vitaco. There's no one else like you in my life.

  3. DecKoala RevolutionSydneyRevolution
    Protesters in Sydney, some with painted faces, carry signs reading Koala Revolution.

    I joined my brother and thousands of protestors in Sydney, as one of the most devastating bushfires in history consumed more than 5 million hectares threatening the Koala population and other endangered animals.

  4. 26 NovCocaïne Prison : Présentation de Violeta AyalaYouTubePress
  5. OctJaguar RevolutionCochabambaRevolution
    A poster: Revolución Jaguar, the streets are ours, Friday 4 October, Plaza 14 de Septiembre, 6 pm, Cochabamba.

    As the fires continued, hundreds of thousands joined us in the streets in the entire country.

  6. SepJaguar RevolutionCochabambaRevolution
    A woman with her face painted as a jaguar, in a leopard-print headband, at a protest.

    We promised to take it to the streets every week until the fire stoped and we did it.

  7. AugJaguar RevolutionCochabambaRevolution
    A mother and a child with painted faces hold signs demanding the repeal of the laws that let agribusiness burn the forest.

    We demanded the government to repeal laws that allowed the agro industry to burn the forest and jungle for farming and cattle for meat export.

    We took it to the streets in Bolivia because the Chiquitania and Amazonia were burning with millions of animals inside.

  8. 8 AprThe Early Show, with Iyad el-Baghdadi and Bobi WineIFEX, BerlinTalk
    Four people on a stage set for The Early Show, between IFEX banners.

    More

2018

  • A woman with a microphone in front of a cinema screen.Cocaine Prison, screening and talk
  1. Jaime Escalante Medal for Extraordinary Talent in FilmmakingEmbassy of Bolivia, Washington DCAward
  2. Audience Award, Toulouse Latin America Film FestivalCinélatino, FranceAward

    For Cocaine Prison.

  3. Awards for The Fight4 honoursAward
    • Best Short DocumentarySose International Film Festival, Armenia
    • Best Short DocumentaryInclus Film Festival, Spain
    • Best International ShortOvercome Film Festival, Brazil
    • Best ShortArtículo 31 Film Festival, Spain
  4. Nominated, Stefan Jarl AwardTempo Documentary Festival, SwedenAward

    For Cocaine Prison.

  5. 11 MarCocaine Prison, screening and talkStockholmTalk
    A woman with a microphone in front of a cinema screen.

    More

2017

  • A woman at a lectern in front of the Rory Peck Awards backdrop.Finalist, Sony Impact Award for Current Affairs
  • Still from Cocaine Prison: a young woman in a busy street at night. The subtitle reads: what you buy here for $1500, you sell there for $15,000.Cocaine Prison, trailer
  • Still from The Fight: riot police with shields push against protesters.The Fight
  1. Best Cinematography, Walkley AwardsAustraliaAward

    For The Fight.

  2. Awards for The Fight3 honoursAward
    • Best ShortInternational Human Rights Festival, Sucre, Bolivia
    • DW Doc Dispatch AwardSheffield International Documentary Festival, UK
    • Nominated, Best ShortInternational Documentary Awards, US
  3. Awards for Cocaine Prison2 honoursAward
    • Best of FestIDFA, Amsterdam
    • Nominated, Best Documentary FeatureCamden International Film Festival, US
  4. 2 NovFinalist, Sony Impact Award for Current AffairsRory Peck Awards, LondonAward
    A woman at a lectern in front of the Rory Peck Awards backdrop.

    For The Fight.

    Rory Peck Trust

  5. SepCocaine PrisonToronto International Film Festival, Official SelectionFilm
    Still from Cocaine Prison: a young woman in a busy street at night. The subtitle reads: what you buy here for $1500, you sell there for $15,000.

    Three Bolivians at the lowest levels of the cocaine trade. Two inmates film their lives inside the prison; the sister of one must decide whether to carry cocaine or go to university. 75 minutes.

    Watch on sala.video cocaineprison.com Watch: Cocaine Prison, trailer

  6. MayThe FightThe GuardianFilm
    Still from The Fight: riot police with shields push against protesters.

    People with disabilities march across the Andes to La Paz to ask for a pension. They meet riot police, barricades and water cannon. With Dan Fallshaw. 29 minutes.

    Watch on The Guardian Watch: The Fight

  7. 20 FebRecognition is for white Australia.The Huffington PostWriting
  8. 3 FebAdvance Australia WhiteThe Huffington PostWriting
  9. 22 Jan#WhyIMarchThe Huffington PostWriting

2016

  • A mother lies beside her newborn baby.Suri
  • Protesters at night hold a banner: my physical condition does not stop me from fighting.Por la dignidad de las personas con discapacidad
  1. Ibermedia Distribution AwardAward

    For The Bolivian Case.

  2. Nominated, Premios PlatinoSpainAward

    For The Bolivian Case.

  3. SuriMy story
    A mother lies beside her newborn baby.

    The day you arrived, you didn't want to leave. You loved playing with your umbilical cord, still do. You fought so hard to be here, my little Suri del Sur. The first few months were a blur, but we made it. I breastfed you for four years, we both loved it. They say it's the hormones, but I think it was just us, in our own little world. Time passes too quickly, and you're growing up so fast. You're becoming more and more yourself, and you always have been.

  4. 12 DecPrisoner #B57661The Huffington PostWriting
  5. 28 NovThe Water WarThe Huffington PostWriting
  6. 18 SepLiberté, égalité, fraternité?The Huffington PostWriting
  7. JulPor la dignidad de las personas con discapacidadLa PazRevolution
    Protesters at night hold a banner: my physical condition does not stop me from fighting.
  8. 27 JunThe Wicked GrannyThe Huffington PostWriting
  9. 27 MayWater Canons Used On Disabled Protestors in BoliviaThe Huffington PostWriting
  10. 25 MayMy Right to Live with DignityThe Huffington PostWriting
  11. 13 JanFair Trade CocaineThe Huffington PostWriting
  12. 4 JanWhite People on PatrolThe Huffington PostWriting

2015

  • Still from The Bolivian Case: a woman laughs in front of a painted prison wall.The Bolivian Case, trailer
  • A woman in sunglasses and a headset at the controls of a small plane.Pies pa que te quiero... (2015)
  1. Awards for The Bolivian Case2 honoursAward
    • Nominated, Premios FénixMexico
    • Audience AwardSydney Film Festival, Australia
  2. 13 AugThe Firsthand Racism I Experienced in AustraliaThe Huffington PostWriting
  3. MayThe Bolivian CaseHot Docs, Toronto, Special PresentationFilm
    Still from The Bolivian Case: a woman laughs in front of a painted prison wall.

    Three Norwegian teenagers are caught smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia. Why does only one take the fall? 85 minutes.

    Watch on sala.video theboliviancase.com Watch: The Bolivian Case, trailer

2014

  • A bride and groom kiss in front of red curtains. A man in sunglasses stands behind them.Dan
  • A newborn baby wrapped in a white towel.Suri mi wawita, me daba miedo quererte tanto. (2014)
  1. DanMy story
    A bride and groom kiss in front of red curtains. A man in sunglasses stands behind them.

    It's funny how some things in life can be so cheesy, they make you cringe. Take this photo for example. It's almost too much to handle. But, in a way, it's also kind of sweet.I met Dan in late 2006 in Sydney, while we were both doing theatre. As it turns out, we were both working at SBS, the same television station. And then, a few weeks after we met, we found ourselves in Mauritania. We both wanted to make films and challenge the system.I married Dan because he promised me that our lives would be anything but boring. Boring was never an option for me, and he knew it. He rented this cool car to drive from Los Angeles to Vegas, but was locked to an embarrasing speed...There's no denying that he's incredibly talented...But...It's his hands, the way his fingers move is like a dance, each gesture deliberate and graceful.

2013

  • A person walks along a dirt road through the Andes.Los Andes don't believe in God, because the Andes are our Goddess. (2013)
  1. Bertha BRITDOC Journalism AwardGood Pitch, New YorkAward

    For Cocaine Prison.

  2. 4 NovIs Bolivia the New Afghanistan, or Is O'Grady From The WSJ Delusional?The Huffington PostWriting
  3. 5 AugThe Whistleblowers and Latin AmericaThe Huffington PostWriting
  4. 5 JulWhat If Snowden Was on Board the Bolivian President's Jet?The Huffington PostWriting
  5. 18 JunCocaine: Just a Commodity?The Huffington PostWriting
  6. FebFirst Person: The 'Stolen' Filmmakers Explain How a Doc About Refugees Became a Controversial Film About Reported SlaveryIndieWireWriting

    With Dan Fallshaw.

2012

  • A bride and groom outside a wedding chapel, beside a man dressed as Elvis.You promised me never ever a dull moment. (2012)
  1. Puma Creative Catalyst AwardBRITDOC Foundation, UKAward

    For The Bolivian Case.

  2. Special Award for ExcellenceAmazigh International Film Festival, MoroccoAward

    For Stolen.

2010

  1. Awards for Stolen13 honoursAward
    • Best Feature DocumentaryPan African Film Festival, Los Angeles, US
    • Grand PrixArt of the Document Film Festival, Warsaw, Poland
    • Best DocumentaryAnchorage International Film Festival, US
    • Best FilmFestival Internacional de Cine de Cuenca, Ecuador
    • Best DocumentaryAfrica Film Festival, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
    • Best FilmRiver's Edge International Film Festival, US
    • Best EditingDocumentary Edge Film Festival, New Zealand
    • Special Jury MentionDocumentary Edge Film Festival, New Zealand
    • Best FeatureRincón International Film Festival, Puerto Rico
    • Silver OliveXV International TV Festival Bar, Montenegro
    • Special MentionOjai Film Festival, California, US
    • Audience AwardAmnesty International Film Festival, Canada
    • Audience AwardOne World Human Rights Film Festival

2009

  • Still from Stolen: two men in a car.Stolen, trailer
  • Three figures on a sand dune at sunset, one of them jumping.Here goes the sun. Sahara desert (2009)
  1. Official CompetitionIDFA, AmsterdamAward

    For Stolen.

  2. SepStolenToronto International Film Festival, Official SelectionFilm
    Still from Stolen: two men in a car.

    We travel to North Africa to make one film and find another. A Sahrawi refugee is reunited with her mother, and the reunion reveals a secret. My first feature, with Dan Fallshaw. 78 minutes.

    Watch on sala.video stolenthedocu.com Watch: Stolen, trailer

2006

  1. United Notions FilmSydneyFilm
    A drawing: a woman in heart-shaped sunglasses beside a film camera, on a city street at night.
    A grid of sixteen photographs at film festivals and premieres.
    Two people beside a small plane on a stone airstrip, under a wide sky.

    I co-found United Notions Film with Dan Fallshaw, to challenge the status quo. We are working against the techno authoritarian future. We use artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D production as tools to democratise storytelling.

    unitednotions.film

  2. OctPolice start Woodside probe over bribery claimThe AgeWriting

    With Kate Askew.

    Read

  3. JunSlick operatorThe Sydney Morning HeraldWriting

    With Kate Askew. On the front page.

    Read

2005

  • Three people smile together in a kitchen.The years in between
  • A man and a woman smile close together in a kitchen.The years in between
  1. The years in betweenMy story
    Three people smile together in a kitchen.

    The years in between are a blur. They were the hardest years of my life. I think I spent more time drunk, stoned, or hungover than sober. I became an actress and a writer, and traveled the world, abandoning everything else. I had some relationships, some more lasting than others. I left Bolivia in 2001, first to Chicago, then in 2002, I arrived in Sydney, where I went to university and studied journalism. It was there that I learned how to make films. But what stands out the most from those years is the fact that I finally met my father. We began a relationship, never very close, but necessary for both of us.

1996

  • A young woman in a white feathered carnival costume.Miss Carnaval, dressed as a unicorn
  1. Miss Carnaval, dressed as a unicornMy story
    A young woman in a white feathered carnival costume.

    It was a confusing time for me. I entered the Miss Carnaval pageant, dressed as a unicorn. It felt like a strange and fitting choice, as I was still trying to make sense of my world without my mother and siblings. The loss had left me feeling adrift, alone in my teenage years. I had my grandparents and my aunt, but the void left by my broken family felt immense. And then, in a moment, it was all gone. The umbilical cord that tied me to them was cut, forcibly and without warning, and I never saw them again. It was a harsh lesson in the fragility of our connections to one another, and how easily they can be lost.

1994

  • A girl holds a baby, with a small boy beside her.The two chitis
  1. The two chitisMy story
    A girl holds a baby, with a small boy beside her.

    I was searching for something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I felt like I was constantly looking for myself, outside of myself. And then there were the two chitis, always there in the background, taunting me with their absence. They were my siblings, and it felt like they followed me everywhere, even to the moon and back. But no matter how hard I looked, I could never seem to find them.

    And then, in 1995, everything changed forever. My mother died, and we were separated. It would take 35 years before we could finally live in the same city again. Time is a funny thing - sometimes it feels like it's dragging on forever, and sometimes it's gone in the blink of an eye. But one thing is for sure: it's always fucking merciless.

1988

  • A row of young ballet dancers on a stage, in black and white.Sucre, and ballet
  1. Sucre, and balletMy story
    A row of young ballet dancers on a stage, in black and white.

    My mother got remarried and we moved to Sucre. She enrolled me in ballet classes, thinking it might help with my coordination. It was a constant struggle, and there were times when I thought I'd never be able to keep up. But somehow, I made it to the performance at the theatre.

1986

  • A girl in a white blouse reads at a table.The year everything changed
  1. The year everything changedMy story
    A girl in a white blouse reads at a table.

    It was the year that everything changed for me. I was only 8 years old, but I already felt like I was living in a world that didn't quite make sense. I struggled with the simplest of tasks, like tying my shoelaces or holding a knife and fork. Reading became my solace, a way to escape from the confusing, chaotic world around me. It wasn't until years later that I was diagnosed with severe dyspraxia, a condition that made those basic tasks feel impossible.

1985

  • A smiling girl with braids.A protest in the playground
  1. A protest in the playgroundMy story
    A smiling girl with braids.

    In primary school, I was already a little rebel. I rallied all the other kids in the playground, leading them in a chorus of "El Pueblo Unido jamas sera vencido," in support of my grandfather's protest. It didn't go down well with the school administration, and I got promptly kicked out.

    Not long after that, my father packed his bags and left for Australia. I was devastated. I didn't understand why he had to leave and I was convinced he had gone to live on another planet. For years, I would stare up at the night sky, searching for any sign of him among the stars.

    It wasn't until 1996 that I finally saw him again. By then, I had grown used to the idea of living in a world where the people I loved could disappear into the ether at any moment.

1983

  • A grandmother holds a small child, with another child beside her.My grandmother, Herminia Soto
  • A painted portrait of a woman with long dark hair.I'm proud to carry the oldest blood of the people from the Abya Yala (named The Americas by the colonizers).
  1. My grandmother, Herminia SotoMy story
    A grandmother holds a small child, with another child beside her.

    My grandma Herminia Soto held me tight in her house in Avenida Barrientos. She couldn't go to school due to the indigenous discrimination that persisted until the revolution of 1952. I clung to my mamadera for comfort until I was 9, sucking on that plastic nipple like it was the only thing in the world that made sense. And when she left this world in 2018, at almost 90 years old, it felt like the mountains themselves had crumbled beneath me. I wish I could bottle her up and keep her with me always, but I know that's impossible. She left without being scanned, reminding me that life is too precious to waste time in the bathroom scrolling through social media. And as much as it pains me to admit it, I know that creating an AI version of her would have been something she would have fiercely opposed.

1981

  • Two small children stand in a dusty street, in an old colour photograph.My grandfather teaches me to read
  1. My grandfather teaches me to readMy story
    Two small children stand in a dusty street, in an old colour photograph.

    My grandfather, Vitaliano Grageda alias Jatun Runa, taught me to read when I was 3. I spent a lot of time with him because he was in home detention when I was born. He was one of the founders and a former Secretary General of the Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia and an active member of The Communist Party. He spent 10 years in prison for his political activities. In this photo, taken by my grandfather in Pocoata, his hometown, I'm eating a peach.

1978

  • A young woman holds a baby beside memorial plaques, in an old colour photograph.Mamitay, I will always miss you. (1978)
  1. Born in CochabambaMy story
    A young woman holds a baby beside memorial plaques, in an old colour photograph.

    In 1978, Cochabamba, Bolivia, a dictatorship cradled my entrance. Youthful parents, overwhelmed by life, split before I was two. Analog cameras, unlike today's digital wonders, made photographs scarce treasures. At nine, a television arrived - not a toy, but a strange, flickering companion in our home.

The entry