Biography
Maria Jose (Majo) Calderon is an award-winning independent filmmaker. She was born and raised in Chile, graduating with a major in Film Directing from ARCIS University in Santiago, Chile in 2002. In 2003, Maria Jose moved to San Francisco, California. Since then, she has produced, directed, edited and collaborated in numerous short films and documentaries. Her films are inspired by local and international stories that highlight social and environmental justice, as well as cultural heritage issues. In May of 2009, she received a Master of Arts degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism Documentary program. She is currently working in the San Francisco Bay Area as a freelance producer, director and editor.
Her early films include Viaje Sin Voz (16mm, 1999) which was officially selected for the Best Latino Film School shorts at the 22nd Havana’s International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and Fulfilling One’s Duty (16mm, 2002), which won the Best Foreign Directing award at the San Francisco Women’s Film Festival.
Maria Jose is a grantee of the CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California, Puffin Foundation, William & Margaret Hearst, National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC), Sea Grant, amongst others. Her NALAC awarded documentary film, Canto a lo Poeta (Poets Song), premiered in 2008 in the theater of Chile’s National Palace and is currently screening at various festivals. Maria Jose was associate producer of the Emmy nominated PBS documentary The Judge and The General, which is also currently in festivals and has received many awards such as the Silver Butterfly award at the Movies That Matter Festival (Amnesty International) in The Hague (2009).
Maria Jose has actively participated in her local filmmaking community: her work has been screened in classrooms, community gatherings, film festivals and Latino cultural centers in the Bay Area and beyond. She was an invited panel member in the “Latina Filmmakers Media Panel” co-presented by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) and the San Francisco Women’s Film Festival.
The Edge of the Sea, her most recent film, premiered in October 2009 at the Orlando Hispanic Film Festival and won the Special Jury Award in the short documentary category. Other awards include, the Student Filmmaker Award at both the Berkeley Video & Film Festival, and the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival (2010). It was also selected to go on a national tour.