Documentary Short Film, 17 minutes, RGV Premiere

Synopsis: Austin residents relive their memories of a 2013 catastrophic flood in Onion Creek, which was a once-thriving community, but now scarred by disaster. Ten years later, they are determined to prevent history from repeating itself.

Samuel Diaz Fernandez

Bio:

Samuel is a Colombian-born filmmaker, TEDx speaker, and educator. In 2022, he was named a National Geographic Explorer for his upcoming short doc on Thermal Inequities and Community perceptions of heat in Austin TX. This will comprise one part of his Austin trilogy—a series of shorts that focus on the lived experience of vulnerable communities in Austin around themes of heat, food access and flooding. In 2021, he received a Silver Telly for directing the short film, “Remember Love,” on the memories of children orphaned by the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. His films have been shown at CineFestival, Austin Asian American Film Festival, Cambodia International Film Festival, and his latest film—”La Cosecha”—had its world premiere at the SXSW film festival in 2023. He is also the co-founder of TÁPI Story and the School of Slow Media—a documentary filmmaking training program, based in Southeast Asia, that mixes filmmaking practices with somatic methodologies and a new awareness of the ethical demands of filmmaking. He has formerly served as global coordinator for communications and advocacy for the World YMCA, and a communications consultant for the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. Samuel was recently selected as a Jackson Wild Media Fellow for 2023.