Sofia Schultz

Sofia (Bwcka) Schultz is a Venezuelan-Spanish filmmaker who started her career in her hometown of Caracas as a video editor for commercials and documentaries at the renowned Venezuelan production company, Pimenton Films. It was there that she discovered her passion for film making and her love for creating stories and bringing them to life on screen. Thanks to producer Jorge Sayegh, she had the opportunity to write her first scripts for the company and learn the ins and outs of per-production, production, and post-production processes. Among her contributions to Pimentón Films are the well-known musical series "Destinos Musicales" and the famous interview piece with actress Jossa Nova for Atelier Tinta Negra. Her story closely resembles that of many contemporary Venezuelans as her country's situation forced her to emigrate quickly with no possibility of returning, so she moved to Ireland in 2013. While residing there, she joined the collective of filmmakers called "Dublin Filmmakers" and quickly made a name for herself in the 48-hour competitions. Her first short film, "Sorry Affair," is an homage to her Latin American roots, showcasing vibrant colors, archetypal characters, and romantic comedy. In my conversations with the filmmaker, she commented, "I wanted to make it clear that I am not Irish, that I come from a place with a different style, climate, and culture. So, using a flying cockroach seemed like the best introduction to the collective, and it worked! Everyone remembered me after that first short film." Since then, she has written, produced, and directed her own work and that of other Irish filmmakers, as well as worked on music videos in Los Angeles, where she recently moved. In 2015, she independently created the short film "Within," featuring the performance of 10-year-old Joni Morris at the time. The film traveled the world on the festival circuit, being selected for Mac Horror Brazil, Navarra Film Festival Spain, Ozark Film Festival USA, Uni Corti Italy, Dublin International Music and Short Film Festival Ireland, Vive Latino Puerto Rico, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival France, Paris Short Film Festival France, and One Dollar Film Festival USA. In 2019, she made another short film titled "The Last Thing to Die," which also traveled internationally and received nominations for Best Soundtrack, Best Actor, and Best Direction. The film was showcased at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival Brazil, Chambal International Film Festival India, Firenze Film Corti Festival Florence Italy, Hollyweed LA Film Festival USA, Lisbon Film Rendezvous Portugal, Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival USA, Stanford Independent Film Festival USA, Tri Cities Fantastic Film Fest USA, ConZealand World Sci-Fi Film Festival New Zealand, and Dublin International Music and Short Film Festival Ireland. In 2020, she released her first experimental black and white work titled "Vicissitudes," which was per-selected for the Oscars at the Grand Prix of the Cork International Film Festival.