Izabel Acevedo is a Guatemalan filmmaker and editor who divides her creative life among New York, Guatemala City, and Mexico City. She studied Cinematography at Mexico’s renowned Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC), completed a postgraduate program in Screenwriting at ESCAC in Barcelona, and is finishing an MFA in Film at The City College of New York—where her thesis short Por Fabiana recently earned a National Board of Review Student Grant.
Acevedo’s first cycle of shorts quickly revealed a distinctive voice: Blue Balloon (2010) traveled from Latin America to Asia, while To Put Together a Helicopter (2012) captured the Best Fiction Short at the Morelia International Film Festival and the Grand Prix at Clermont‑Ferrand before screening at Rotterdam, Cannes Critics’ Week, and MoMA’s New Directors/New Films, and securing an Ariel nomination.
Her feature‑length documentary debut The Good Christian (2016) explores Guatemala’s collective memory and won the FEISAL Award at the Guadalajara International Film Festival after premiering in Morelia and touring festivals such as BAFICI and Riviera Maya.
Acevedo is currently developing two projects that broaden her thematic palette: the documentary Marlen and the Peter Pan Syndrome, supported by the 2023 NYC Women’s Fund, and her first narrative feature The Middleman / Q’oqonk, backed by the Lynn Shelton “Of A Certain Age” Grant.
Parallel to directing, she is an in‑demand editor, with credits on SXSW‑selected Gunpowder Heart, the award‑winning El silencio de la princesa, and the family‑centered feature My Two Moms – A Story of Separation, each underscoring her intuitive feel for rhythm and emotional nuance.
An active member of Film Fatales, Acevedo often serves on festival juries—HFFNY, LIFFY, and The Americas Film Festival NY among them—where she shares insights with new generations of storytellers. Blending documentary observation, narrative drive, and editorial precision, she stands out as one of Central America’s most vibrant cinematic voices.
