Paola Ochoa Paola Ochoa

Paola Ochoa is a Colombian born filmmaker and cinematographer with focus in documentary film. Co-founder of the production company Extranjero Films. After graduating from the BA in Social Communication and Journalism at the Universidad del Valle in 2011, she moved to Bogotá. In 2013 she moved to New York to pursuit an MFA in Social Documentary Film at the School of Visual Arts, thanks to a scholarship from Colfuturo and Proimagenes Colombia Film Fund. She graduated with honors, receiving the Paula Rhodes Award, and the Alumni Scholarship Award from the SVA Alumni Society. In between, she worked as research intern for the documentary series “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies” produced by Ark Media and Ken Burns for PBS. Later she moved to Los Angeles, and since then she works as a freelance filmmaker, producer and cinematographer. Some of her recent projects include: “A Little Wisdom”, feature documentary film shot in Nepal, for which she was Cinematographer, showcased in festivals like Busan International Film Festival, SXSW, CAAMFest, Karlovy Vary, and winner of the Best Canadian Documentary Film at Hot Docs 2018, the Grand Jury Prize in the Viewfinders section at DOC NYC 2018, and Best Camera Work at the Golden Tree International Film Festival; “Antofagasta, New York” a fiction feature in distribution, in which she was Assistant Producer and Editor, premiered at FIC Gibara 2018; and her directorial debut, “Sisters”, a feature documentary film currently in progress, with renowned filmmaker Alan Berliner as editorial advisor, which has gathered attention during its development in different WIP events and Festivals like Visions Du Réel, Doc Buenos Aires, SANFIC and the Cartagena International Film Festival. She is now based in Colombia and has worked as a film teacher for the Universidad del Valle -in which she was also Co-Director of the "VIII Diplomado Internacional en Documental de Creación"- and the Universidad Central.