Gio Olmos
Mexico / Montreal
In 2020, Cecilia Araneda spoke with Gio Olmos as part of a multi-year curatorial research project on Latin Canadian cinema. This is a brief extract of her research.
Gio Olmos was born in Mexico City and immigrated to Montreal in 2006. They graduated from the film production program at Concordia University in 2018. Their film Silvia in the Waves (2017) was Vimeo staff picked and selected by more than 40 festivals. In 2017, they filmed Dulce Hogar guerilla style in their hometown. The resulting film went on to win Best Foreign Director at the BFI Future Film Festival in 2019. The writing of their upcoming short film won a SODEC’s Development grant in 2019. Since 2018, Gio has been a programming assistant of Montreal’s Afroqueer Film Festival, Massimadi. In 2019, they sat on the jury of the 32nd edition of Montreal’s Image+Nation Film Festival. In 2020, their script Windowpane was awarded the Writers Guild of Canada prize after being selected as one of seven contestants in the Sprint for Your Script competition organized by SODEC. | olmosfilm.com
Research Notes
Gio Olmos was born in Mexico City and moved to Montreal when they were ten years old, as their parents immigrated to Canada seeking a better life for their family. Olmos studied filmmaking at Concordia University, and currently works as a filmmaker and film programmer. They are interested in the ability of programming work to connect work to audiences, and this has become an increasing focus for them.
Olmos is interested in examining Magic Realism in their film practice, as a mechanism to connect to pan Latin American cultural identity. Their Mexican culture is reflected in their work through themes, content and production methodologies. Olmos additionally also shoots work in Mexico City at times, and in this way shares a similar working impetus to many other of their Latin Canadian filmmaker counterparts who focus their work back on their site of origin. And ultimately, they consider their filmmaking practice as a way to contribute to community.
Filmography
- Dulce Hogar (9:39 mins, 2018)
- Silvia dans les vagues (13:04 mins, 2017)
- Mapou (5:22 mins, 2016)