alicia rodriguez /
As a second-generation Boricua to Nuyorican parents, Rodriguez's experiences with diaspora and the erasure of narratives contextualizes their approach to storytelling. Because of this, Rodriguez's intention in filmmaking and photography largely centers around building up spaces for peoples who have been historically silenced. Reclamation of narrative can be a powerful tool to challenge systemic erasure within colonized communities among others, and this role of reclaiming community power in liberation movements motivates Rodriguez's work. Outside of filmmaking, much of Rodriguez's storytelling is also influenced by plant cultivation and herbal medicine which, like film, is another medium of survival and resistance that is rooted in the reclamation of storytelling.
In 2020, Rodriguez graduated summa cum laude from George Mason University, double majoring with a BA in Film and Video Studies with a concentration in Directing and Producing and a BA in Integrative Studies with a concentration in Social Justice and Human Rights. Alicia's time in the Film at Mason program centered around short-form documentary directing and cinematography in short narrative films. Since graduation, Rodriguez has focused on work as a documentarian and has currently been working as a cinematographer on a documentary feature The Young Won't Forget, which has since been awarded the Bend Film Festival BIPOC Women Film Production Grant and is still in production.
some previous work & collaborations
awards & recognition
2023 - Participant in the first cohort of The Cinematographer's Lab, PANO + AbelCine & Canon
2020 - Film at Mason Professional Achievement Award, FAVS at George Mason University
2020 - Film at Mason Academic Excellence Award, FAVS at George Mason University
2019 - Princess Grace Award Winner, John H. Johnson Film Honor, Undergraduate Film Scholarship, Princess Grace Foundation
2019 - Joy R. Hughes Award for Best Documentary Pitch, FAVS at George Mason University
2019 - Best Cinematography Award, FAVS at George Mason University
2019 - Alice L. Watts Memorial Award, CVPA at George Mason University
2019 - Film and Video Studies Senior Scholarship, FAVS at George Mason University
2018 - Capital Emmy Student Production Award for Short Form – Fiction : (Director of Photography), The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter
2018 - Best Cinematography Award, FAVS at George Mason University
2018 - Best Editing Award, FAVS at George Mason University
2016 - Jon Sultan Writing Award, George Mason University
2015 - Light Writer Award, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts
2015 - Overall Academy Award in the category of photography, Fairfax Academy for Communication and the Arts
2014 - Silver Medal in Category of Photography, Skills USA
2013 - 1st Place Photograph, 2nd Place Photograph, & Best Environmental Photograph, Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts