[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: When did you start submitting Abrazo to film festivals?
Paola Baldión, Filmmaker/Actor: We shot Abrazo in January 2023. We wanted to send it to the Cannes Film Festival. I think the deadline was April so we had a few months to turn it around. We did that and it was ready.
Since April 2023 until I want to say last month we’ve been touring with festivals. We started submitting.
Film Courage: What does Abrazo mean in Espanol?
Paola: Embrace, a hug.
Film Courage: How long did it take you to come up with that title? Did you always see it as that?
Paola: Yes. I just knew it. Once I had the story and I knew where it was going to end, I was like Oh, yes it has to be that. Originally it was called El Abrazo The Embrace, but then my co-writer was like No, I think just Abrazo is more powerful and he was right.
Film Courage: Abrazo. The Z is an S, it’s like more silent?
Paola: Yes, in Spanish the Z sounds like an S.
Film Courage: Beautiful. How many film festivals…I think you told me a little bit?
Paola: I think we’ve gone to about 35 film festivals…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Paola Baldión is an award-winning actress, director, and producer of Colombian and European heritage. Born in Paris and raised in Italy and Colombia, Paola is a multilingual Latina artist fluent in Spanish, English, Italian, and French. She began performing at age four in her parents’ marionette theater and later trained under renowned masters Edgardo Román and Paco Barrero in Bogotá, followed by HB Studios in New York and Stephanie Feury Studio in Los Angeles. She holds a BFA in Theater and Film Studies from Concordia University in Montreal.
Paola made her feature film debut in the lead role of Marina in Retratos en un Mar de Mentiras (Portraits in a Sea of Lies), which premiered at the Berlin and Guadalajara film festivals. Her performance earned her the Colombian Academy Award for Best Actress, along with Best Actress honors at the Guadalajara and Amiens International Film Festivals.
As co-founder of Dos Almas Films, she has directed impactful short films and documentaries, including For Alma and I Am Migration-a documentary where she and partner Jamie Toll travel across the U.S., offering free DNA tests to explore ancestry and identity.
Her latest fiction film, Abrazo, tells the emotional story of a pregnant Central American woman crossing the U.S. border. The film has received 29 festival awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Writer, and Best Actress. Through her body of work, Paola continues to champion stories about identity, migration, and social justice-bringing visibility to underrepresented voices in both dramatic and comedic roles.
WATCH ‘I AM MIGRATION’
Facebook.com/iammigration/videos
WATCH ‘ABRAZO’ – NEW SHORT FILM BY PAOLA
CONNECT WITH PAOLA BALDION
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