Media Arts Center San Diego (MACSD) is excited to announce that our long-time curator for the San Diego Latino Film Festival and the Digital Gym CINEMA, Moisés Esparza, will now lead strategic and community partnerships as MACSD’s new Director of Development. You can reach Moises at: moises@mediaartscenter.org

“MACSD is so excited that Moises is taking on a larger and crucial leadership role here at our non-profit”, states Founder/Executive Director, Ethan van Thillo. “As the organization continues to provide more services to our communities, it’s more important than ever to bring in new resources and community partnerships. Additionally, this unique opportunity now allows MACSD to bring on new film curators who will help shape the artistic direction of our annual film festival and movie theater for many years to come.”

Taking over as MACSD’s new Artistic Directors are María Paula Lorgia and Glenn Heath Jr.

María Paula Lorgia will act as the new lead film curator for MACSD’s acclaimed and long running San Diego Latino Film Festival. María is a researcher and curator of film and visual arts with a Master of Arts in Media Studies with an emphasis in Documentary Studies from The New School University in New York City. She currently works as Creative Director at the Tulpa audiovisual platform. She is also a film professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the Universidad de los Andes and works as a programming advisor for the Sheffield Doc Festival in England and Anibia-Animation Film Festival in Colombia. She worked for nine years at the Cinemateca de Bogotá, Colombia, as head programmer where she programmed retrospectives of filmmakers such as Barbara Hammer, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Roberto Minervini, Sarah Maldoror, Monika Treut, Luis Ospina among others. She has been part of the jury for the Teddy Award at the Berlinale-Berlin International Film Festival, the Dortmund Women’s Film Festival in Germany, the Ceará de Fortaleza Ibero-American Film Festival and Festival Internacional de Cinema de João Pessoa in Brasil, Proimagenes Colombia and the Audiovisual Ministry of Culture in Colombia, among others. You can reach Maria at: maria@mediaartscenter.org

Taking over as the film curator of MACSD’s one-of-a-kind arthouse Cinema, the Digital Gym CINEMA, is Glenn Heath, Jr. Glenn Heath Jr. is a native San Diegan and the Managing Director of Pacific Arts Movement, producers of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. He is also a Lecturer of Film Studies at San Diego State University, and has over 10 years of experience writing professional film criticism. During that time, he was the lead film critic of San Diego CityBeat and a regular contributor to publications such as Slant Magazine, Little White Lies, Mubi’s Notebook, Cineaste, and The Film Stage among others. Glenn previously worked with MACSD from 2011-2014 curating and managing operations for both the San Diego Latino Film Festival and the Digital Gym CINEMA. You can reach Glenn at: glenn@mediaartscenter.org

Now managing operations of MACSD’s San Diego Latino Film Festival and Digital Gym CINEMA will be Kristian Franco. Kristian Perez-Franco is the new Exhibitions Senior Manager at Media Arts Center San Diego. With nearly a decade of experience in various cinema roles and an unwavering love for film, Kristian is passionate about curating exceptional cinematic experiences and contributing to the growth and development of the Digital Gym Cinema and future editions of the renowned San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Kristian’s extensive background in theater operations includes several years of dedicated service with the San Diego Asian Film Festival, where they’ve played a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth operation of screenings and events. Their expertise in this area has been instrumental in creating memorable and seamless experiences for festival attendees. In addition to their operations experience, Kristian has further enriched the film community by teaching a DCP (Digital Cinema Package) distribution course during the Summer of 2023. This course was intended to empower aspiring filmmakers and industry professionals with valuable knowledge about the technical aspects of film distribution, further cementing Kristian’s reputation as a dedicated educator and advocate for the art of cinema. Under their leadership, the organization continues to thrive as a hub for diverse and innovative programming, bringing unique stories and voices to audiences in San Diego and beyond. Kristian’s dedication to the art of filmmaking, their commitment to fostering cultural appreciation through cinema, and their expertise in theater operations and film distribution make them an invaluable asset to the Media Arts Center San Diego team. You can reach Kristian at: kristian@mediaartscenter.org

We are thrilled by these exciting leadership changes at the Media Arts Center San Diego as we embark on this new era for our Exhibitions Department!

For more information, please contact 619-230-1938 or visit www.digitalgym.org / www.sdlatinofilm.com