José Manuel Vélez

José Manuel was born and raised in Chile, where he worked as a designer for 10 years before moving to New York City to pursue filmmaking. He grew up gay in a conservative Catholic family and in a post-dictatorship country, which permeated the stories he tells: stories about queerness, shame, guilt, and the search for connection and hope. His first narrative short film, Fervor, premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, and won the Grand Jury Prize at NewFest. José obtained his MFA in filmmaking from NYU and is currently developing his first feature film.