-Who is Karen Sotolongo Menéndez?

Professional Cuban Film Director, Editor, Art Director, Executive Producer and Actress graduated from the Metrópolis Education Center, the Barcelona’s International Film School (ECIB) and the PLató de Cinema Academy in Spain. Member of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industry (ICAIC), the National Union of Writers and Artists in Cuba (UNEAC) and The Barcelona Documentary Club in Spain; she has worked in more than twenty films such as ¨In her hands¨ produced by Netflix, Moon Dogs Films, Chelsea and Hillary Clinton with the Oscar nominated director Marcel Mettelsiefen and Tamana Ayazi, ¨Moto GP Unlimited¨ streaming serie co produced by MediaPro Studios and Amazon Prime Video and her own films, achieving recognition for her work in and outside her native country; as well as the 8 & Halfilm Award,  Austin International Art Festival, Hollywood International Golden Age Festival, San Francisco and London Independent Festival and the most recently award for Best European Film Director at the Sweet Democracy Film Awards. She currently works as a freelance artist in New York advocating mainly for pacifist and humanitarian causes.

-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

Dreams. Since I was a child, I climbed trees and looked at the sea from there, or under the water, imagining worlds with my eyes open or closed. Expressing this fiction of my mind and helping with it became my battleground as soon as I learned to fly.

-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?

Of course. The cinema is constantly changing and helps to move societies and their taboos, although it is a very dangerous double-edged tool, if it is done from love and intelligence it can manage to sensitize millions of souls in a few minutes.

-What would you change in the world?

From the world we live in, I would change racism, wars, economic inequality, hunger, paid education and health, animal abuse, the undervaluation of women, child abuse, visas to cross borders, undocumented emigration and, above all, hypocrisy for deal with these issues.

-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?

I see the film industry in a century being more supportive of human beings, able to show new forms of both entertainment and science to eradicate the differences that distance us from the natural peace with which we come to this world. Inspiring new generations with advanced filming mechanisms, even more accessibles to those who are passionate about storytelling from the audiovisual.