4º Ceremony of the KURRAK Film Awards
Auka!
Valle de Guadalupe Film Festival is in the heart of the Kumeyaay people’s ancestral lands in Baja California – a land of authenticity, of integrity, and of the senses.
The event emanates from over sixteen years of celebrating the singular voices of our people, in film and community, and exists to carry this spirit further, showing movies with a heart since 2020 at Casa Kurrak.
The Festival de Cine del Valle de Guadalupe A.C. is a Kumeyaay women-led, and filmmakers-with-disability-led cinematographic arts and cultural non-profit organization.
The first call to submissions to the KURRAK Film Awards started in 2023 via Film Freeway, and that same year became an IMDb qualifier.
We curate films written and directed by auteur-filmmakers working in fiction and in documentary to explore and share people’s personal stories, emotional experiences, social milieu, and artistic visions.
Our mission is to discover, showcase, and promote independent, local, and native filmmakers with our community and youth, while celebrating the land of Guadalupe for her cultural traditions and resilience.
We welcome productions from all around the world. We are a cultural community event of Kumeyaay and Valle de Guadalupe-based filmmakers sharing films with our neighbors, firmly opposed to abuse, intimidation, and authoritarianism of any kind, and committed to giving voice to the voiceless.
Over the Kumeyaay New Year, on Thursday, September 23, 2027, the Cultural Harvest of Cinema will initiate in Valle de Guadalupe. The KURRAK Film Awards™ Ceremony will take place at Casa Kurrak on Saturday, September 25, 2027.
Throughout the year, we’ll keep screening films at Casa Kurrak Cine Lounge, inviting audiences to discover the full 2026 Official Selection, and experience the spirit of the festival beyond its opening weekend.
“A festival made by filmmakers for the locals, dedicated to the voices of auteur cinema"
Selection & Deadline
The deadline for the KURRAK Film Awards 4th Edition’s submissions is on July 23rd, 2027.
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, J. Xavier Velasco),
• Award-winning documentarians (Armando Croda, Idil Ibrahim),
• Festival programmers (Adriana Trujillo, Alessio Giorgetti),
• Mexican Cinema Dictionary member (Lilia Arellano Rodriguez),
• Audio engineer pro (Nikola Chapelle),
• Grammy artist (Pepe Mogt),
• Animal Politico and ViX distribution platform (Adrian Saravia),
• and High-profile sustainability officer at Scope Ratings (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 Casa Kurrak year round.
