Berlin · Film Director & Teacher
Hi! I'm Flavio
I am a Berlin-based award-winning film director and film teacher.
On this page you can find everything about what I do and what I am: I write and direct independent movies, host filmmaking workshops in Berlin and abroad, and offer online courses and mentoring programs.
My Story
I started making "movies" when I was eight years old.
This is how I did it: I used a long sheet of paper and rolled it into an empty toilet paper carton. I drew different vignettes and scenes along the paper, then recorded the dialogue and music on a tape cassette.
To "play" the movie, I hung the "film strip" from the top of an old shoebox, where I had cut out a small frame (the screen). The audience watched from the other side as I pulled the paper down in sync with the soundtrack.
To make one movie, I needed a full week of work. On Fridays, I invited my neighbors to the premiere and charged them 25 cents for a ticket — so I could buy what I needed to make the next one: paper, pencils, and tape cassettes.
I remember those days a lot, because they defined so much of who I am today as a film director, and how I feel about the filmmaking process:
- The love and need for storytelling.
- Working independently and finding my own ways to produce films — which, honestly, is the only way I know how to create.
- Working directly for an audience and creating a film experience meant to be shared and enjoyed together.
- And finally, doing all of this in a way that is economically sustainable, where the art itself supports the next film and makes a creative life possible.
Why Do I Teach?
Teaching has been part of my filmmaking life since the beginning. I started teaching after film school in 2005, and since then I have continued to move between making my own films and helping other actors and directors develop their creative practice.
In my group workshops and 1:1 coaching for actors and directors, I share what I have learned as an independent film director over the years: how to work with actors, build scenes, develop ideas, stay present, and find a personal way into filmmaking.
For me, teaching is not separate from making films. It is another way of staying close to the creative process: through practice, collaboration, and direct exchange.
My Values
I believe in cinema that feels personal, alive, and honest.
For me, filmmaking is not only about technique or production. It is about attention: to people, to moments, to emotion, to what appears when everyone involved is truly present.
I value independence, directness, and real connection. I am interested in work that does not hide behind formulas, trends, or empty professionalism, but stays close to the human experience.
That is what I try to protect in everything I make and share: a way of working where the process matters, the people matter, and the result carries something genuine.
What I've made
Filmography & Awards
Here are some of the movies I have directed, the awards received, and the festivals, cultural institutions, and museums where they have been shown.
Awards & Recognition
- Best Actress, Inter-face (Esther Rivas), 9th Ibero-American Short Film Competition – Versión Española, 2009
- Best Actress, Inter-face, Móvil Film Fest, 2009
- Best Movie, Inter-face, Móvil Film Fest, 2009
- Best Mobile Movie, Inter-face, Barcelona Visual Sound, 2009
- Best Actor, Shuttle (Daniel Godino), Móvil Film Fest, 2010
- Short Movie of the Month, Inter-face, Filmin, 2011
- Best Shorts of the Year, Video-Derives: Air Vigilance, Caimán Cuadernos de Cine, 2014
Workshops at Festivals & Institutions
In addition to organizing my own workshops, I have been invited to collaborate and teach at various prestigious festivals and film schools. If you'd like me to teach at your institution or event, please reach out (flavio@flaviofilms.com).
- Lanzarote Film Showcase (2021) — Thinking the Edit! Theory and analysis of cinematic editing techniques.
- Documenta Madrid, International Film Festival (2017) — Digital Strategies in Independent Documentary Cinema.
- Docma, Spanish Documentary Film Association (2017–2018) — Workshops on Film Language, Narrative, and Film Editing.
- FilmArche Berlin (2014–2020) — Guest teacher on Film Language, Narrative, Editing and Color.
- IPADE Foundation (2012) — Guest teacher on Environment and Poverty Through Audiovisual Media, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha and Universidad de Murcia.
- Instituto Cervantes Argel (2009) — Mobile Filmmaking Workshop.
- MIZ-Babelsberg · ESDIP-Berlin · Master-LAV Madrid.
Inter-face
This movie explores how we relate to images, how we engage in dialogue with them, and project them into the present, at times even altering their meaning.
Fiction. Written and directed by Flavio García. With Esther Rivas. 2009 (remastered in 2025).
Awards: Best Actress (Esther Rivas), 9th Ibero-American Short Film Competition; Best Actress & Best Movie, Móvil Film Fest 2009; Best Mobile Movie, Barcelona Visual Sound 2009.
Paths
Donostia-San Sebastián Film Festival. A journalist walks out of a screening. He wanders through the city streets, searching for the sea. Amidst films and spectators, he is looking for someone. With just one day left until the festival ends, perhaps it's not too late.
Fiction. Written and directed by Flavio García. With José Fopiani and Adriana Quintanal. 2011 (remastered in 2025).
Shuttle
“You have been selected for the Program. In the coming weeks, you'll build your Archive and prepare for the journey. What you record now will shape everything that lies ahead...”
Fiction. Written and directed by Flavio García. With Ángela Boj and Daniel Godino. 2011 (remastered in 2025).
Video-Derives: Air Vigilance
An exploration of the sky and aerial surveillance during contemporary social protests. As citizens take to the streets and repressive violence escalates, distant flying eyes observe, forming abstract textures reminiscent of science fiction iconography and dystopian fantasies.
Experimental documentary. Directed by Flavio García. 2013.
Video-Derives: Sol
On May 15, 2011, the 15M movement, also known as the Spanish Revolution, began in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, sparking a wave of protests across Spain. This film portrays how citizens documented these events, reflecting on the role of visual memory in moments of social unrest and collective action.
Experimental documentary. Directed by Flavio García. 2011.
One Night Out
A distant observation of people in the heart of a big city, seeking gestures of warmth and connection. But, as the gaze lingers, the distance suddenly dissolves...
Experimental documentary. Directed by Flavio García. 2011.
Festivals & Screenings
- Proyector Festival
- Cineteca at Matadero Madrid
- Spanish Film Academy
- Alcine, International Short Film Festival, Alcalá de Henares
- Lima Independiente, International Film Fest
- Pragda, New York, as part of the “Spanish Revolution?” sessions
- MUSAC, Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León
- Espacio de Arte y Experiencias, La Rambleta, Valencia
- Ibero-American Short Film Competition – Spanish Version
- FASCURT, Short Film Festival of Masnou
- Exhibition of Experimental Cinema and Video Art LAB, Albacete
- Baumann Short Film Festival, “Express Format” section
- Pasaia Short Film Showcase, Ikuska
- Aguilar de Campoo Short Film Festival, Official Selection
- Cartagena International Film Festival, Official Short Film Section
- L'Alternativa Festival, Pantalla Hall Section
- Short Film Fest Barbu Club
- Celrà Short Film Festival
- Verdi Cinemas, Madrid
- Cine Septiembre Festival, Mexico
- Portobello Film Festival, London
- International Short Film Festival Rauch (Argentina)
- One Shot International Film Festival
- National UNICA Video Competition
- Casa de América, Madrid
- Márgenes, Spanish Cinema on the Margins (retrospective)
What others say
Media Presence
My movies have been reviewed and featured in filmmaking magazines and books. Here are some of those texts, with links to the original publications.
Caimán Cuadernos de Cine
Best Shorts of the Year · Review by Jara Yáñez
Most prestigious filmmaking magazine in Spain. On Video-Derives: Air Vigilance: “The diptych functions as a shot-reverse shot, moving from the power of the citizens... to institutional power, symbolized by the omnipresent helicopter overhead.”
The Gaze of the Times
Alcine, 2010 · Review by Carlos Reviriego
Book on the Spanish short film in the 2000s. On Inter-face: “The charm of Inter-face lies in the freshness and lack of pretense with which Flavio G. García imitates and supplants the cinematic frame with the visual content of a monitor.”
Spanish Cinema Against Itself
Steven Marsh · Cátedra Editions, 2022
A fascinating exploration of Spanish film history, with Flavio's work analyzed in detail over more than three pages: “García's abstract work is political in the performative sense... it becomes, in and of itself, a political intervention.”
