The Festival
Auka!
The KURRAK Film Awards’ 3rd Edition will celebrate the Kumeyaay New Year in San José de la Zorra on Saturday September 26th, 2026. The local population is invited to a rodeo, the awards ceremony for the films competing in the oficial selection, the projection of Xiica Cmotomanoj, followed by the concert of Seri rock band Hamac Caziim.
An IMDb qualifier festival, the Festival de Cine del Valle de Guadalupe A.C. is a Kumeyaay Native women-led cinematographic arts and cultural non-profit organization. Founded at Casa Kurrak in 2023, the festival emanates from over sixteen years of celebrating the singular voices of our people, in film and community, and exists to carry this spirit further.
We welcome productions worldwide. We curate films written and directed by auteur-filmmakers working in fiction and documentary formats, to explore and to share people’s personal stories, emotional experiences, social backgrounds, and artistic visions. Our mission is to discover, expose, and promote independent, local, and indigenous filmmakers while drawing worldwide attention to Baja California as a center for cultural and cinematographic traditions and resilience.
We stand against all forms of abuse and authoritarianism, and stand for autonomy and self-expression.
Selection & Deadline
The deadline for the 3rd Edition’s submissions is on Friday August 28th, 2026.
The selection centers on the filmmakers’ cinematic genuine and singular expressions.
Our panel of Jurors are:
• Emmy-award winning directors (Sebastian Díaz Aguirre, Julia Gorbach),
• Directors Guild of America directors (Pete Chatmon DGA, Antonio Scarlata DGA),
• Mexican Society of Cinematography cinematographer (Alejandro Mejía AMC),
• British Academy Film Awards voting members (Petra Korner BAFTA, Rodrigo Reyes BAFTA),
• Industry professional filmmakers (Eva Aridjis, Antonio Coello, J. Xavier Velasco),
• Award-winning documentarians (Armando Croda, Idil Ibrahim),
• Festival programmers (Adriana Trujillo, Alessio Giorgetti),
• Audio engineer pro (Nikola Chapelle),
• Grammy artist (Pepe Mogt),
• Animal Politico and ViX distribution platform (Adrian Saravia),
• and High-profile sustainability officer (Karl Pettersen).
Our jurors are looking for character driven emotional experiences, movies that are the authentic expression of the individuals coming from all walks of life, and unique cinematographic language. We are not interested in movies that copy the soulless industry’s narratives. We also welcome filmmakers with disability to share their perspectives.
For the film projects selected we will feature their trailers on our platform and on our YouTube page for viewers to watch. A number of those films selected in the official competition will be screened at Cine Kurrak year round.
