J O E L A L F O N S O V A R G A S
W R I T E R · D I R E C T O R
W R I T E R · D I R E C T O R
Born and raised in public housing in The Bronx, New York Joel Vargas is a dedicated filmmaker, community activist and advocate of conscientious art. He graduated from Lafayette College with a BA in Film and Media Studies and International Affairs in 2014 and spent time at Goldsmiths College in London and at the Film and Television School at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague where he studied film directing and theory. Joel is a former Fulbright Scholar and holds an MA in documentary filmmaking from the University of the Arts, London. He was an MFA candidate in Narrative Film Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Since beginning his career as an emerging film director, Joel has worked on over 20 original short films encompassing a broad rage of stories, subjects and styles, from conventional to experimental, documentary and fiction. His contemporary work aspires to advocate for communities at the periphery of society, centering on themes of racial, social, and economic justice. His films have screened to positive reception in venues around the world including Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Sterling University, the BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival, and the Grasten Palace in Sonderborg, Denmark, and has been featured in the New York Times. He currently works as a freelance director/storyteller and educator of film in NYC where he teaches visual storytelling to inner city youth. He is developing his first feature length film entitled "No Half Steppin."
Press:
July 2018 - No Half Steppin' is 1/50 scripts chosen by IFP to participate in its No Borders Program
April 2018 - No Half Steppin' is invited to apply to the Sundance Summer Screenwriters Lab
February 2018 - No Half Steppin' Recieves Tribeca Film Institute All Access Grant
July 2018 - No Half Steppin' is 1/50 scripts chosen by IFP to participate in its No Borders Program
April 2018 - No Half Steppin' is invited to apply to the Sundance Summer Screenwriters Lab
February 2018 - No Half Steppin' Recieves Tribeca Film Institute All Access Grant