Julia Vargas-Weise (1942 – 1 April 2018) was a Bolivian photographer, screenwriter, educator, and film director.

Biography

Julia Vargas-Weise was born in

Cochabamba Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 630 ...

in 1942. She trained professionally at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Vevey, Switzerland. She became known as the first female professional photographer in Bolivia. She overcame discrimination to obtain fair recognition and valuation of her work, and from 1963 to the end of her life, she participated in 30 international photo exhibitions, including 17 solo exhibitions. In 1980, she founded and directed a non-governmental organization which held audiovisual workshops for children and adolescents. In 1984, she worked in the film industry for the first time, as a still photographer for the feature '' Los Hermanos Cartagena''. She went on to direct three films, including 2015's '' Sealed Cargo'', which was selected as Bolivia's entry for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

, but was not nominated. It also won special jury awards at the International Film Festival of India and the

WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival The WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, founded in 1968, is an annual film festival held annually in April in Houston, Texas. Notable festival alumni include John Lee Hancock, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film '' The Blind ...

. Julia Vargas-Weise died in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

on 1 April 2018 at age 76.

Awards

* 2016: Best Director for ''Sealed Cargo'' at the

Marbella International Film Festival The Marbella International Film Festival has been held in Marbella on the Costa del Sol The Costa del Sol (literally "Coast of the Sun" or "Sun Coast") is a region in the south of Spain in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising th ...

* 2017: Award for Contribution to Bolivian Cinema and Audiovisual Arts at the 17th Santa Cruz International Film Festival (FENAVID)

Filmography

* ''Esito sería...'' (2004) * ''Patricia, una vez basta'' (2006) * '' Sealed Cargo'' (2015)

Books

* ''Tierra adentro: obra fotográfica'' (1987)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas-Weise, Julia 1942 births 2018 deaths 20th-century photographers Bolivian women artists Bolivian educators Bolivian women educators Bolivian film directors Bolivian screenwriters Bolivian women film directors People from Cochabamba Bolivian women photographers Women screenwriters 20th-century women photographers