Ronald Baez
Directing
Biography
Ronald Baez is a Caribbean-American screenwriter, director, and award-winning immersive media artist from Miami, FL. His current and previous short film projects continue to screen at film festivals worldwide including HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival, the Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, the Miami Film Festival, the Borscht Film Festival, and The Norton Museum of Art. Several of Baez’s short film projects would ultimately be distributed for national television broadcast by PBS as well as on Apple TV & Roku by Seed&Spark SVOD. Baez's award-winning immersive media projects have been exhibited at the 2020 MIT Reality Hack XR Hackathon, the Florida Museum of National History, and the National Association of Broadcasters Conference (NAB Show). Baez was awarded the NAB Futures Innovator's Award in 2019 for his ongoing VR projects in collaboration with the University of Florida MET Lab. Baez continues to work with organizations and institutions like National Geographic, the University of Florida, the New World Symphony, the Sea Turtle Conservancy, and the Knight Foundation on a variety of immersive media projects. In addition to his work as a filmmaker and immersive media artist, Baez is a founding member of the White Elephant Group, a Miami-based filmmaking collective, and also serves as the Artistic Director of the After School Film Institute, a nonprofit organization mentoring at risk, inner-city students in South Florida.
Known For
Longtime Instagram pen pals Jean and Nina meet in person for the first time and stumble through a well-meaning dinner with Nina’s ultra-conservative father.
A Postcard to Nina
Take a seat with us at FIRE’s first-ever classical music concert in support of free expression: “Outspoken: Music for Free Speech.” At the podium is conductor Rebecca Bryant Novak, a former doctoral student at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. Taking the stage for the first time since she was expelled without due process after speaking out about alleged harassment, Rebecca leads an all-volunteer orchestra in an unforgettable evening of music. Internationally acclaimed musicians, violinist Lara St. John and oboist Katherine Needleman, bring the stage to life with works by composers who themselves faced censorship, from Mozart to Shostakovich. Between performances, FIRE staff and special guests reflect on why free expression is essential for artists, and for all of us. The arts cannot thrive without free expression. Thank you to everyone who made this night possible!
Outspoken: Music for Free Speech
A young Haitian-American learns how to dance Konpa to impress his crush.
Konpa
At only 19 years old, an Argentinian filmmaker emigrates to Miami looking for better opportunities. She soon finds herself falling for her very first boyfriend, someone she thought was good for her. That would quickly change, making her feel trapped in an abusive relationship that she would hide from everyone around her for years. In a detailed search for healing, she explores the events that led to the morning when he sexually assaulted her to understand that she is not to blame.
You Were Never Really Here
Minutes before her perfectly planned evening, Lily accidentally summons a genie from a vinyl record. The fairy-godmother-like Reggaetonero is convinced he can help her woo her date, but Lily is skeptical about his methods.
El Reggaetonero
Eight miles inland of Miami’s beaches, Liberty City residents fight to save their community from climate gentrification: their land, sitting on a ridge, becomes real estate gold.
Razing Liberty Square
Inspired by true events, a Haitian refugee fights to survive the inhuman conditions at Guantánamo Bay.
Boat People
A middle-aged mother of two reflects on her emotional decision to immigrate to the United States some 30 years earlier, in this reflective documentary short that borrows its title from a uniquely powerful poem by the legendary exiled Cuban writer Lourdes Casal.
Searching for Ana Veldford
A 23 weeks pregnant young actress, struggles to find the perfect name for her daughter.