THE NEIGHBORHOOD STORYTELLER
Alejandra Alcala (Mexico, 1991) graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design at the Istituto Europeo di Design, Barcelona. After working as a Creative Strategist in a Communication Agency for the Mobile World Congress, the largest tech event in Barcelona, she complimented her professional career with a Postgraduate Degree in Motion Graphics, Post-Production and 3D Design. For the last 4 years, Alejandra has been fully dedicated to HOME Storytellers, a nonprofIt she co-founded with her father, Francisco. While she still practices as a Visual Designer, she has evolved into a full time documentary filmmaker taking on the role as Creative Director and Editor of award-winning short documentary film, Hot Dogs on a Tricycle (HOME Storytellers, 2019), Co-Director and Editor of award winning, No Single Origin (HOME Storytellers, 2020) and first time Director and Co-Editor of HOME Storytellers’ first feature film, The Neighborhood Storyteller (2021) in partnership with The Big Heart Foundation.
FILM CREW
Producer, Second Camera & Photographer
Francisco J. Alcala
Francisco J. Alcala (Mexico, 1962) has a unique combination of 30 years of experience as a business executive in 4 continents and a transformation into a documentary photographer with a MFA in Photography from the SF Academy of Art University. Francisco evolved into a documentary filmmaker after founding nonprofit, HOME Storytellers, to create awareness and support for refugee self-reliance through inspiring documentary films & multimedia. He was Executive Director, Producer and Second Camera for short documentary film Hot Dogs on a Tricycle (HOME Storytellers, 2019) — an Official Selection of Film Festivals: Berlin Short, Respect Belfast Human Rights, The Impact DOCS Awards, Best Shorts Competition, DOQUMENTA International — Award Winner of Global Shorts — Finalist & Semi-Finalist of JellyFest Season 6 and DUMBO. Francisco also Co-Directed alongside his daughter, Alejandra, short documentary No Single Origin (HOME Storytellers, 2020) — an Official Selection of Film Festivals: Justice and San Francisco Independent and Award Winner of Global Shorts, The Impact DOCS Awards, Best Shorts Competition, and finalist at The Taste Awards.
DOP, Consulting Producer & Co-Editor
Alejandro
Garcia
Alex García (Barcelona, 1978) is a graduate of Cinematography at the Superior School of Cinema and Audiovisuals of Catalonia (ESCAC). He has been Director of Photography for the following feature films: Todo el tiempo del mundo (Pablo Messiez / Carlos MarquésMarcet, Escenario 0, HBO 2020) L'ofrena (Ventura Durall, 2020), La Mort de Guillem (Carlos Marqués-Marcet 2020), Els dies que vindran (Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2019), Amigos para siempre (Román Parrado, 2017) y 13 días de octubre (Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2015). Alex has also been Director of Photography of an extensive list of short films and documentaries including A munt i avall and Distill Your World. Aside from his work as a DP, he has also directed several documentary projects for cinema and television mostly known for his work in Mudanza and Ways to kill Yoro S.
Associate Producer & Project Coordinator at WLR
Ghufran
Abudayyeh
Ghufran Mustafa (Jordan, 1992) is the We Love Reading Program Coordinator and Trainer with five years of experience in humanitarian sector. She is currently completing her MA degree in Social Anthropology with the interest of languages and translation.
Location Sound Mixer
Essa
Makhadmeh
Production Sound Mixer since 2014. Currently studying masters in Audio Engineering at SAE. Worked as a sound operator in more than 50 production sets in Jordan.
Simultaneous Translator
Amani
Abu-Agha
Ms. Amani Mohammad Abu-Agha (Jordan, 1982), a passionate translator-interpreter, doing freelance work in the field of translation for the past 14 years of her life and tutoring in her free time. She earned a BA and a MA degree in English translation and interpretation. She currently lives in Jordan but works regionally and internationally.
Working with multiple clients including EU and UN agencies, Amani developed an extensive knowledge in translation, and she is dedicating her full time right now to interpretation
Music Composer
Bernardo
Castro
Bernardo Castro (Mexico) is an award-winning composer and music producer for visual media based in Barcelona. His work can be heard in feature films, TV series and commercials. He pursued a Classical Music Degree and during his final year was granted a scholarship to study abroad at the University of Leeds, UK, where he focused on music production.He started working at a prestigious recording studio as an audio engineer for clients like Disney Latin America and for video games such as Gears of War 3. In 2015, Bernardo graduated with honors from the Master's in Scoring for Film, TV and Video Games from the Berklee College of Music, Valencia Campus. After graduation he was hired as an in-house composer and music producer at a renowned music production company in Barcelona, Spain, where he worked for 4 years. He now works as a freelance composer in all sorts of projects and recently won Best Score at the Seattle International Fashion Film Festival for his work on the film D.O. by Stella Coll, directed by Javier Cano Larumbe.
Photographer
Patti
Bartelstein
Patti Bartelstein (American, 1965), also known as Bella Luca, is a Visual Artist and Founder of The Project Room. She is a Photo Documentary Storyteller,Curator, & Creative Strategist. She is collaborative and creative, visionary and pragmatic, a dreamer and a doer. Her dedication is to visual storytelling. A master of elevating timely moments, classically preserving history and capturing the day in your life ordinary moments which become extraordinary. The results of The Project Room programs have been proven to expose and support critical work in the creative fields which directly inspire action to positively impact our world. Bella was Producer for award-winning short documentary film No Single Origin (HOME Storytellers, 2020).
Colorist
Chema
Mumford
Chema Mumford (Spain) studied cinema in Barcelona and has been living there for the past 10 years. During that time, he has had the pleasure of working in various countries like Kuwait, India and Ethiopia.
Chema is an efficient and passionate filmmaker with many years of experience working as a cinematographer, colorist & editor.