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Bernardo Ruiz

Bernardo Ruiz

History

BERNARDO RUIZ is a two-time Emmy® Award-nominated documentary director/producer and member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He has directed and produced four feature documentaries through his production company, Quiet Pictures. He has also directed and produced a host of nonfiction programming (including docu-series) for outlets as varied as Disney+, ESPN, HBO, VICE and PBS. His credits as director include THE INFINITE RACE (ESPN’s 30 for 30, 2020), HARVEST SEASON (Independent Lens, 2018), KINGDOM OF SHADOWS (PARTICIPANT MEDIA, POV, 2016), and REPORTERO, (POV, 2013). On the television side, Ruiz wrote, directed and produced ROBERTO CLEMENTE (American Experience, 2008) which was awarded the NCLR (now UnidosUS), “Alma” Award for “Outstanding Made for Television Documentary." He also created, directed and executive produced the two part bilingual PBS series, THE GRADUATES/LOS GRADUADOS (Independent Lens, 2013). Edutopia called it “a winner that should be seen by as many students, teachers and parents as possible.” Most recently, he wrote, directed and produced the 2020 election special, LATINO VOTE: DISPATCHES FROM THE BATTLEGROUND. Ruiz frequently serves as a mentor to emerging makers and has recently worked with Firelight Media, DCTV and the the Future of Science Fellowship to support new documentary makers. In the fall of 2015, Ruiz was a filmmaker-in-residence at the Investigative Reporting Program (IRP) at the U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Previously he served on the board of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP). He currently serves on the advisory board of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

Profile

Bernardo Ruiz

Movies

Director

An unlikely collaboration between a forensic scientist from Texas and a group of Latin American students changes the course of forensic science and international human rights.

The Infinite Race

The Infinite Race

Producer

In the annual Ultra Maratón Caballo Blanco, runners compete in the spectacular Copper Canyon of Chihuahua, Mexico, home to the indigenous Rarámuri people. The town of Urique has hosted the event since 2004, after an American athlete created the race as a way for the Rarámuri, who are known for their endurance running, to honor and preserve their culture.

The Infinite Race

The Infinite Race

Director

In the annual Ultra Maratón Caballo Blanco, runners compete in the spectacular Copper Canyon of Chihuahua, Mexico, home to the indigenous Rarámuri people. The town of Urique has hosted the event since 2004, after an American athlete created the race as a way for the Rarámuri, who are known for their endurance running, to honor and preserve their culture.

Producer

Harvest Season delves into the lives of people who work behind the scenes of the premium California wine industry, during one of the most dramatic grape harvests in recent memory. The film follows the stories of Mexican-American winemakers and migrant workers who are essential to the wine business, yet are rarely recognized for their contributions. Their stories unfold as wildfires ignite in Napa and Sonoma counties, threatening the livelihoods of small farmers and winemakers who are already grappling with a growing labor shortage, shifting immigration policies, and the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.

Director

Harvest Season delves into the lives of people who work behind the scenes of the premium California wine industry, during one of the most dramatic grape harvests in recent memory. The film follows the stories of Mexican-American winemakers and migrant workers who are essential to the wine business, yet are rarely recognized for their contributions. Their stories unfold as wildfires ignite in Napa and Sonoma counties, threatening the livelihoods of small farmers and winemakers who are already grappling with a growing labor shortage, shifting immigration policies, and the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.

Kingdom of Shadows

Kingdom of Shadows

Director

KINGDOM OF SHADOWS follows three people grappling with the hard choices and destructive consequences of the U.S.-Mexico “drug war”. Filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz weaves together the seemingly disconnected stories of an activist nun in deeply scarred Monterrey, Mexico, a U.S. Federal agent on the border, and a former Texas smuggler to reveal the human side of an often-misunderstood conflict that has resulted in the “disappearance” of more than 23,000 people in Mexico—a growing human rights crisis that only recently has made international headlines.

The Graduates/Los Graduados

The Graduates/Los Graduados

Writer

Latino students from across the United States struggle and triumph through the challenges faced in the American public education system.

The Graduates/Los Graduados

The Graduates/Los Graduados

Executive Producer

Latino students from across the United States struggle and triumph through the challenges faced in the American public education system.

The Graduates/Los Graduados

The Graduates/Los Graduados

Director

Latino students from across the United States struggle and triumph through the challenges faced in the American public education system.

Writer

On the road with experienced journalist Sergio Haro from the Mexican magazine Zeta. Risking his own life, the reporter of the Mexican weekly magazine tirelessly fights corruption and the drug cartels.

Director

On the road with experienced journalist Sergio Haro from the Mexican magazine Zeta. Risking his own life, the reporter of the Mexican weekly magazine tirelessly fights corruption and the drug cartels.

Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente

Producer

Roberto Clemente is an in-depth look at an exceptional baseball player and committed humanitarian who challenged racial discrimination to become baseball's first Latino superstar. Featuring interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors David Maraniss and George F. Will; Clemente's wife Vera; Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda; and former teammates, the documentary presents an intimate and revealing portrait of a man whose passion and grace made him a legend.

Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente

Writer

Roberto Clemente is an in-depth look at an exceptional baseball player and committed humanitarian who challenged racial discrimination to become baseball's first Latino superstar. Featuring interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors David Maraniss and George F. Will; Clemente's wife Vera; Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda; and former teammates, the documentary presents an intimate and revealing portrait of a man whose passion and grace made him a legend.

Roberto Clemente

Roberto Clemente

Director

Roberto Clemente is an in-depth look at an exceptional baseball player and committed humanitarian who challenged racial discrimination to become baseball's first Latino superstar. Featuring interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors David Maraniss and George F. Will; Clemente's wife Vera; Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda; and former teammates, the documentary presents an intimate and revealing portrait of a man whose passion and grace made him a legend.

Drunkards Four

Set in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of fate and spurred by the power of his love for his woman and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and to ultimately save his way of life.

The Sixth Section

The Sixth Section

Additional Camera

Following a group of Mexican immigrants from the tiny desert town of Boqueron who now work in upstate New York, the film documents their struggle to support themselves—and their hometown 3,000 miles to the south. To do this, the men form a 'union' that raises money in the form of weekly donations of $10 or $20 from each of its members in New York.

The Sixth Section

The Sixth Section

Sound Recordist

Following a group of Mexican immigrants from the tiny desert town of Boqueron who now work in upstate New York, the film documents their struggle to support themselves—and their hometown 3,000 miles to the south. To do this, the men form a 'union' that raises money in the form of weekly donations of $10 or $20 from each of its members in New York.