Judith Escalona

Judith Escalona is a filmmaker, writer, web site producer, gallerist, and curator of film and new media. She has an extensive background in different media. Escalona is a member of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers, and the New York New Media Association. It is the surreal story of a Puerto Rican psychoanalyst with a long-suppressed identity problem that erupts with some dire consequences. The film is unique in exploring the mental anguish and shame associated with racism. Stylistically akin to German Expressionism, with an eye towards Luis Buñuel, it occupies an absurdist space that keeps it from descending into the maudlin clichés of realism. The film stars Jaime Sánchez, who previously appeared in The Wild Bunch and The Pawnbroker, as the mysterious Dr. Gúzman. The Krutch screened in 2004 and 2005 at the Harlemwood Film Festival, NY and Japan; the Havana Film Festival; Loisaida Cortos, NY; and African American Women in Cinema, NY, as well as other festivals. In 2007, The Krutch was featured in the Hispanic New York Film Festival. In 2008, Cemi Underground screened the film in celebration of Women's History Month. A recent scholarly work by Christin Freyer "Revolving-Door Life Writing: Literature and Cinema of Puerto Rican Women (American Studies - a Monograph Series)", published by Universitätsverlag Winter, devotes one of its chapters to analyzing "The Krutch" in depth.
More recently, in the summer of 2007, Escalona completed principal photography for a new film entitled Bx3M, the story of three Latinos youths coming of age in a city going up in flames. Escalona wrote and directed Bx3M which is now in postproduction (www.bx3mgrowingupfast.com).
Escalona contributes regularly to VIVA, a publication of the Daily News, and to the Quarterly Black Review. She is the former film critic of the online publication Womensnet.net. In addition, Escalona curates film programs, both on-line and off-line. She curated the Nuyorican Cinema film program, which has been screened in various venues and as part of different film festivals in New York, such as LaCinemaFe and the New York Latino Film and Video Festival. Nuyorican Cinema can be seen online at www.prdream.com, along with two essays by Escalona about this little known part of American independent cinema.
Television
Escalona has worked in broadcast, cable, and corporate television, having both produced or directed more than 50 productions of various genres. She was project director in the creation of Starrett City Television (SCTV), a television broadcast facility located in Brooklyn, NY.
As Studio Director of SCTV, she trained students in the craft of television broadcasting, and developed numerous programs for Starrett City's community of over 15,000 residents. These programs included "Sessions", a jazz and Latin jazz television series, which she both produced and directed. Musicians citywide participated in live jam sessions at the studio.
A Poet’s Visit, produced and directed by Ms.Escalona, was one of the first television series to feature urban poets. Recently, Escalona served as a consultant to the government of Bermuda for their new IPTV station, an internet-based television station that launched in September 2007.
Escalona is currently a segment producer for "Independent Sources", a magazine format show on CUNY-TV.
Translator
As authorized translator, she translated the popular Puerto Rican literary work of Luis López Nieves entitled Seva: The History of the First U.S. Invasion of the Island of Puerto Rico, May 1898.
Awards
In 2000, Escalona was designated a "Distinguished Latina" by El Diario/La Prensa; this ranks among the oldest Spanish language newspapers in the United States.. In 2010 she was recognized by NY State Senator Bill Perkins with a Women History Month Award Celebrating Women in the Arts; and in 2011 she received an Ippies Journalism Award, winning First Place in the video category for her news piece on Broadway theaters entitled "Color on the Great White Way."

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