About Patricia Montoya

I am a Colombian American filmmaker and educator. In my creative work, I draw on the impermanence of home, my bi-national (US/Colombia) and Latinx identity, queerness, and experiences at the US/Mexico border to tackle cultural contradictions experienced by emigrants from Latin America who are living in the United States.

My videos address issues of migration, memory, and identity through lyrical explorations of text, dialogue, theatrical adaptations, and the depiction of intimate human relations within the context of physical and emotional landscapes. I am a product of cultural and political movements characterized by the impetus to express, in a personal voice and with a sense of urgency, existential conditions of belonging and survival.

My most recent film, Cuando La Rumorosa Calla (When La Rumorosa Quiets, México, 17 min, Spanish with English subtitles, 2020) is a narrative/experimental short, that addresses femicides in the border region through a narrative of self-empowerment. It reflects upon contemporary social justice movements against gender crimes in the Americas such as Ni una menos in México, Ni una más, in Argentina and the #MeToo movement in the United States.

The film has won several awards in the United States, Mexico, France, and India, most notably best short in Baja California at the Ensenada Film Festival, Baja California, MX; Best Short in the category Ni Una Menos at the Human Rights Film Festival in Tijuana, Baja California, MX; Queen Palm International Film Festival, Palm Springs, California, Best Short Film; Latino Film Market Festival, Best Latino short, Narrative; Finalist at the Union of Excellence, UNOFEX; nominated for Best Short at International Film Awards; Aviff Cannes Art Film Festival, Public Vote Award; 53^rd Worldfest-Houston International Film & Video Festival, Remi Award for Best Short; Independent Shorts Awards Festival, Los Angeles, CA; Bronze Award for Best Director (female) and Best Woman Short; Honorable Jury mention at the International Noida Film Festival -2020 (Noida, India); Experimental forum honorable mention; and finalist at the Next Generation Indie Film Awards, Los Angeles, CA.

I am a recipient of the 2021 Artist Fellowship in Film & Video from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a fellow at The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts’ Valley Creates Program in partnership with MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists, and a Five College Artist in Residence through the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center.

I am also a recipient of the 2021-2022 Leslie Lohman Museum Artist Fellowship which provides the support of a cohort of 12 queer artists from around the world, and a final fellowship show at the museum.

To learn about of me and my work please visit my portfolio website at

http://patriciamontoya.space/