LETICIA AKEL is a Chilean director and screenwriter based in Santiago. She holds a BA in Film from Universidad Católica de Chile and an MFA in Screenwriting/Directing from Columbia University. She is a recipient of the prestigious Becas Chile Scholarship and a three-time winner of the Audiovisual Fund for Postgraduate Studies provided by the Chilean Ministry of Culture and Arts.

Leticia has written or directed projects in Chile, Iceland, Pakistan, and the United States. She has also worked as a Film professor and teaching assistant at Universidad Católica de Chile and Columbia University.

Her short films have been screened and awarded at numerous film festivals, including Aspen ShortsFest, Palm Springs ShortFest, Seattle International Film Festival, and Cinélatino Rencontres de Toulouse. Her latest short film Premonition won the Cacho Pallero Award at Huesca International Film Festival, as well as four other Special Jury Mentions.

Leticia’s TV pilot Friendship Island received a Special Mention at FIGC TV Pitchbox, was awarded Faculty Selects at Columbia University Film Festival, and reached the second round of Sundance Episodic Lab and Made in New York Writers Room.

Leticia is currently developing her first feature film Shadow. She is also co-writing “Malpelo”, a feature film directed by Victoria Rivera, and supported by organizations such as Sloan Foundation, Sundance Institute, Film Independent, and Cine Qua Non Lab.