Melissa Beatriz

Melissa Beatriz is a documentary filmmaker, cultural producer, and researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of social justice, media arts/culture, and policy. Since 2010, she has collaborated with artists and grassroots organizations in Philadelphia, with roles focused on storytelling, resource mobilization, and communications.

Melissa is a 2019 Leeway Transformation Awardee and a 2020 Fellow of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Leadership Institute. Her media work has been supported by Independence Public Media Foundation, Velocity Fund, Doc Society Good Pitch Local Philadelphia, Leeway Foundation, Double Exposure Scholars program, Sundance Institute's New Frontier Philadelphia Day Lab intensive, and the Public VR Lab.

Grants Awarded to Melissa Beatriz

$31,000 - Awarded March 2023

Focus areas

Movement Media

Immigrant Voices

$30,600 - Awarded August 2021

Focus areas

$25,000 - Awarded December 2020

Focus areas

Movement Media

Description

The 2020 film grant will support "La Lucha Sigue." The documentary centers immigrant rights leaders who are calling for the Berks Detention Center, one of three prisons that detain immigrant children, to close. Characters such as a mother from Mexico who is teaching her kids about social movements, and an elder who spent part of his childhood in a Japanese internment camp, explain how the immigration industrial complex has impacted various communities of color. The characters portray how to hold elected officials accountable and organize on a local level through art, storytelling, and creative actions.