Gabriela Pena

Chilean-spanish documentary filmmaker, editor and producer
She studied Audiovisual Communication at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.

 

Co-founder of Grieta Cine (Valparaíso, Chile – Barcelona), where she develops both her own and co-produced film projects, combining directing, production and editing processes in independent, auteur-driven projects between Latin America and Spain.

 

As a filmmaker and editor.

 

In recent years, she has worked in a creative tandem with Picho García on documentary, hybrid and personal works, such as the feature documentary Where the Silence is Heard (2026), which had its world premiere in the 23rd CPH:DOX Next:Wave Award Competition in Denmark, followed by the 41st FICG Ibero-American Documentary Competition in Mexico (where it received the FEISAL Award for Best Film) and the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival Official Competition in the US. It is a Chile–Spain co-production supported by the Sundance Institute, Chicken & Egg Films, ICEC and ICAA, among others.

 

Previously, they co-directed the hybrid short film Familia 💖💎 (2024), which had its world premiere at the 21st True/False Film Festival in the US, followed by US festivals such as the 20th Camden IFF, the 14th Family Film Project in Portugal, and the 20th Sapporo IFF in Japan. In Chile, it received 7 Best Film awards at festivals including the 20th SANFIC, as well as the Audience Award and the Special Jury Award at the 17th FECICH.

 

In 2021, she presented her first solo-directed feature film Zoila in SANFIC’s National Competition (Chile) and received the “Gender and Generations” Award at FIDBA (Argentina), followed by an extensive festival run across Latin America and Chile, including EQUIS, Atemporal, FECILS, FECICH and FICIQQ. The film placed second in the Red de Salas de Cine de Chile Awards and, in partnership with the network, was released in more than 10 independent cinemas across the country in 2023.

 

As editor.

 

She has worked as an editor on feature films, short films and music videos across documentary, fiction, experimental and hybrid genres. Her role as lead editor on the feature documentary The Incredible Story of a Film We Never Saw (Christine Mladic and Claudia Chávez – Peru, Chile, USA), a project co-produced by Grieta Cine that has receivedsupport from the Sundance Humanities Fellowship and the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and has been selected for DocsBarcelona PRO, Hot Docs Deal Maker, EURODOC and Lau Haizetara at the San Sebastián Film Festival, where it received the Best Pitch Award. 

 

In parallel, she has built a long-standing career working and collaborating with film festivals and industry platforms such as DocsBarcelona Valparaíso, FECICH, Mediamorfosis, DocuLab Andino at FicViña, and the Barcelona Architecture Film Festival (BARQ), where she served as Head of Production in 2025–2026. In 2024, she was Peer Leader at the Chicken & Egg Films AlumNest Meetings.

 

The professional activity carried out in Catalonia, Spain, is supported and funded by the Department of Business and Labour of the Government of Catalonia and co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

More information

The co-financed initiative aims to support the development and consolidation of professional activity in the audiovisual sector in Catalonia, linked to the creation, production and development of audiovisual projects, as well as the provision of specialised professional services in this field.

 

As a result of this initiative, sustained professional activity in the audiovisual sector has been consolidated, focused on project development and collaboration with stakeholders in the cultural and creative fields, contributing to the strengthening of professional skills and long-term integration into the audiovisual ecosystem.

 

     

Realizado por MatuStrauss

© Grieta Cine 2025