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Elena Fortes
- Location:
- Mexico
- Languages:
- English, Italian, Spanish
- Issues:
- Climate Change, Gender violence , Human Rights
- Expertise:
- Impact Strategist/Advisor, Alternative Distribution
- Cultural/racial identity:
- Latino/Eastern European
- Self identification:
- Female
Bio
ELENA FORTES (Mexico City, 1981)
Elena Fortes is a creative producer and cultural strategist with more than 15 years of experience in the film industry. Between 2005 and 2016, Fortes served as the director of AMBULANTE, a non-profit organization which she co-founded with Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, and Pablo Cruz, in order to promote documentary film culture in Mexico. AMBULANTE'S multiple programs include Latin America’s largest touring documentary film festival, a long-term filmmaking training program for underserved communities in Mexico, and an editorial division. The organization has received prestigious awards and grants, including the Prince Claus Award (2019), and the WOLA Human Rights Award (2011).In 2017, Fortes co-founded, along with Daniela Alatorre, and the support of Cinepolis, the Mexico City based production company NO FICCIÓN, focused on creating films that play with genre boundaries and the construction of new narratives. With the company, she produced over 13 films, including MIDNIGHT FAMILY (d. Luke Lorentzen), which premiered at Sundance 2019 and was shortlisted for the 2020 Academy Awards; VIVOS (d. Ai Weiwei), which premiered at Sundance 2020 ; and A COP MOVIE (d. Alonso Ruizpalacios), which premiered at the 2021 Berlinale where it received a Silver Bear for Outstanding Contribution in Editing.
In 2024 she founded FIASCO, a boutique studio that seeks to develop a wide spectrum of projects across different artistic practices that celebrate and uphold creative freedom and autonomy, critical thinking, audience diversity and growth, and the fortuitous and collaborative nature inherent to any creative pursuit.
Elena is a Sundance Producing and Catalyst Fellow and a Doc Society Good Pitch and Climate Story Fund Fellow. She is a member of the Global Impact Producers Alliance, the Documentary Producers Alliance, and Brown Girls Doc Mafia.
Fortes has participated in multiple juries and programming committees for various film festivals and organizations, including Sundance, IDFA, Camerimage, CPH:DOX, Dokufest, Hot Docs, Lima International Film Festival, among others.
Elena holds a B.A in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania and has completed specialized courses in architecture (Harvard GSD), film direction (Sundance Collab), and industrial design (CENTRO).
