Alex Velasco
(USA)Alex Velasco is a Salvadoran-Californian filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Influenced early in life to pursue storytelling by a neighbor in San Salvador who was a wartime AP photographer, the intensity of his images, juxtaposed by the meticulous care given to capturing the most vulnerable states of humanity, left a lasting impression. Thus, Alex strives to create images with depth, meaning, and tender complexity that respectfully amplify the truth. Alex has a deep passion for life-affirming stories, emotionally charged imagery, and captivating and thought-provoking aesthetics, but perhaps above all else: for the act of creating. After earning a BA in Film and TV production with a focus on Directing, and nearly a decade working as a producer (most notably on the hit Discovery travel show “Expedition Unknown,” and the critically acclaimed A24 documentary film “Val”), Alex’s itch to create transitioned him into cinematography. Most recently, he has worked as a Director of Photography on short films, music videos, documentaries, commercials, and a few independent features.
ConnectEl Grano De Oro
I am the son of a fourth-generation coffee farmer and agricultural engineer from El Salvador… and I am the first generation to not be involved in the production of coffee in any way. We moved to the US when I was young, after the coffee industry had been ravaged by years of political issues. I watched my father wrestle with his identity as an immigrant in a country that did not value his former training or education, and it was both heartbreaking and eye-opening. A simple sip of coffee in the morning has so much meaning, and I want to tell the powerful and poignant story of coffee, and the people who cultivate it in El Salvador. From surviving a bloody civil war and record-breaking violence in the decades that followed, El Salvador is finally returning to the trade that was once its pride and identity. This documentary will tell the tale of the resilience and convalescence of the Salvadoran people, and the insurmountable power of hope in dire circumstances, as these people have rinsed the literal and figurative blood off of their coffee beans and continue to work toward cultivating a healthier future for the generations to come.
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