Director & Editor
Alongside talented cinematographer Eleni Gill, I directed, produced and edited a short documentary, called School Crossing, focused on the Venezuelan migration crisis in 2018.
I traveled to the Venezuela-Colombia border to investigate and document the journey of the 50,000 students that crossed the border daily to access education.
The film premiered at the Immigration Film Fest in Washington, D.C. and was an official selection at the San Diego Latino Film Festival, Miami Independent Film Festival and the Independent Short Awards in Los Angeles.
It went on to earn recognition at several international and national film festivals listed below.
Synopsis
Time: 16:30 min
USA , Venezuela (Spanish/English) 2019; Short documentary; color
The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is considered among the worst in Latin American history. While much of the media coverage has focused on the political turmoil in Venezuela, “School Crossing” focuses on an unseen crisis: the education of the next generation of Venezuelan children.
Credits
Karla Caraballo-Torres, Director & Co- producer
Lorin Eleni Gill, Cinematographer & Co-producer
Recognition
"School Crossing" premiered at the Immigration Film Fest in Washington, D.C. and was an official selection at the San Diego Latino Film Festival, Miami Independent Film Festival and the Independent Short Awards in Los Angeles, where it received the silver award for Best Documentary Short. The Indie Short Fest in Los Angeles, a sister competition, also named it Best Documentary Short.
Audiences at the DOCUMENTARY Film Feedback Festival in Toronto voted it Best Film, and the documentary was awarded Best Director at the NYC Short Documentary Film Festival.
The film received the Alfred Hopkins Award for Reporting in Latin America, an Excellence Award from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
In May 2020, it was nominated for a BAFTA Student Film Award.