Paola Mendoza is a film director, activist, author, and artist. In 2017, she co-founded and served as the artistic director for the

2017 Women's March The Women's March was a worldwide protest on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. It was prompted by Trump's policy positions and rhetoric, which protesters called misogynistic or otherwise threate ...

Early life

Mendoza was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. She came to the United States as an infant with her mother and brother. Their family struggled and were homeless for a short period until her mother obtained a job at a fast food restaurant. At the age of twelve Mendoza was involved with a gang. Her mother sent her back to Colombia for a few years to live with an aunt to take her out of the gang situation. Mendoza returned to Los Angeles for her senior year of high school. After attending community college for three years, she graduated from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and earned her master's degree at Sarah Lawrence College.

Career

Film

In 2004, Mendoza starred in the film '' On the Outs'', which won the Jury Award at the

Deauville Film Festival The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Cho ...

. Mendoza's first documentary feature, ''Autumn’s Eyes'', premiered at the 2006

South by Southwest Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

. The documentary centered on a three-year-old girl living with her adolescent mother on the margins of society and facing the possibility of

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

. That same year, Mendoza's documentary

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''Still Standing'' premiered at the Full Frame Film Festival''.'' ''Still Standing'' follows Mendoza's grandmother's struggle to rebuild her life after losing her home in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

during Hurricane Katrina. Mendoza later wrote and directed the film, '' Entre nos,'' which was in part based on her mother's life. The film was shown at multiple film festivals including the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

Activism and art

Mendoza was a co-founder of the

and also served as its artistic director. In 2018, Mendoza served as the creative director for the exhibition "I Am a Child" at the

National Civil Rights Museum The National Civil Rights Museum is a complex of museums and historic buildings in Memphis, Tennessee; its exhibits trace the history of the civil rights movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. The museum is built aro ...

in Memphis. The exhibition is a collection of photographs highlighting the separation of

undocumented immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

children from their parents at the U.S. border. Mendoza co-founded the Resistance Revival Chorus with Sarah Sophia Flicker and Ginny Suss. The Resistance Revival Chorus sang backup for Kesha during her performance of " Praying" at the

2018 Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongc ...

. In 2022, she co-founded The Meteor, “a platform to amplify the creative work of BIPOC women, LGBTQ+ people.” The Meteor serves as a collective of journalists, artists, filmmakers, and media leaders who produce films and audio content.

Author

With Sarah Sophie Flicker, Mendoza co-authored ''Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World'', which chronicles the inaugural Women's March. Mendoza also co-wrote the

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novel ''Sanctuary'', with Abby Sher, which made the

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

’s Best Fiction for 2020 List.

Personal life

Mendoza has a son with partner, Michael Skolnik.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mendoza, Paola Living people 21st-century women artists American film directors Women writers of young adult literature Women's rights activists 1981 births