• Faculty

  • Pacho Velez

    Assistant Professor of Screen Studies

    Email
    velezp@newschool.edu

    Office Location
    D - 79 Fifth Avenue

    Download vCard

    Pacho Velez

    Profile

    Pacho Velez is a non-fiction filmmaker working at the intersection of ethnography, contemporary art, and political documentary. His most recent feature, The Reagan Show, explores a prolific actor’s defining role: Leader of the Free World. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival before being broadcast on CNN.

    His previous feature, Manakamana, won a Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. It played around the world, including at the Whitney Biennial and the Toronto International Film Festival. 

    Pacho received his MFA from CalArts. He has taught filmmaking at Princeton University, Harvard University, Bard College, Parsons the New School, and MassArt. In 2015, he was awarded a Princeton Arts Fellowship. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Screen Studies at The New School.

     

     

    Degrees Held

    2010

    MFA in Program Film / Video from The California Institute of the Arts

    2003

    BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University

    Recent Publications

    The Reagan Show (2017) – Director, Writer – (in collaboration with Sierra Pettengill) – 74 min

    Tribeca Film Festival Locarno Film Festival

    CNN North American Broadcast 

    Seattle International Film Festival

     

    Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt (2017) - Director, Producer – (in collaboration with Yoni Brook) – 9min

    New York Film Festival

    Toronto International Film Festival

    AFI Fest

     

    Dragstrip (2015) - Director, Producer – 4 min

    Melbourne International Film Festival

    Toronto International Film Festival

    New York Film Festival

     

    The Reagan Shorts (2015) – Director, Producer – 15 min

    Garage Museum of Contemporary Art

    Rotterdam International Film Festival

    True/False Film Festival

     

    Manakamana (2013) – Director, Camera, Editor – (In collaboration with Stephanie Spray) – 118 min

    Whitney Biennial

    True/False Film Festival

    New York Film Festival

    Toronto International Film Festival

    Locarno Film Festival

     

     

     

     

    Performances and Appearances

    2018

    Ohio State University

    University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

    Organization of American Historians National Conference

    California Institute of the Arts

    2017

    Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV)

    Union Docs Amherst Cinema Princeton University

    2016

    University of California Los Angeles

    Temple University (keynote speaker, documentary theory / practice symposium)

    2015

    Hunter College (sound/ image / interaction symposium)

     

     

    Awards And Honors

    2018 

    Cinereach, Outreach Grant

    2017

    David Carr Award for Truth in Non-Fiction Filmmaking

    Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, Nominee

    McDowell Artist Colony Residency

    2015

    Princeton Arts Fellowship, Princeton University

    Cable Network News (CNN), Project Funding

    Sundance Documentary Fund, Grant

    Tribeca Film Institute, Grant

    Cinereach, Grant

    Impact Partners, Project Funding AFI Fest, Special Jury Prize

    2014

    Gotham Independent Film Awards, Nominee

    New York Film Festival Artist’s Academy, Guest Artist

    Camden International Film Festival’s Points North Forum, Best Pitch Winner

    Independent Spirit Awards, Nominee

    Catapult Film Fund, Grant

    DocAviv, Best Artistic Vision Award

    BAFICI, Vanguard and Genre Grand Prize

    RiverRun International Film Festival, Best Director Documentary

    LEF Foundation Development Grant

    2013

    Locarno Film Festival, Grand Prize (Golden Leopard)

    2012

    Harvard Film Study Center Fellow / Sensory Ethnography Lab Fellow

    2010

    Sundance Documentary Labs, Assistant Editing Fellow

    2006

    U.S. Department of Education, Javits Fellowship

     

     

    Current Courses

    Directing
    LCST 3150, Spring 2024

    Independent Production
    NMDS 5921, Spring 2024

    Independent Senior Project
    LCST 4990, Spring 2024

    Independent Study
    LCST 3950, Spring 2024

    Intro to Screen Studies
    LCST 2122, Spring 2024

    Intro to Screen Studies: Film
    LCST 2124, Spring 2024

    Screen Writing
    LCST 3170, Spring 2024

    Future Courses

    Editing
    LCST 2160, Fall 2024

    Experiments in Film Sound
    LCST 3190, Fall 2024

    Independent Senior Project
    LCST 4990, Fall 2024

    Independent Study
    LCST 3950, Fall 2024

    Past Courses

    Independent Senior Project
    LCST 4990, Fall 2023

    Independent Study
    LCST 3950, Fall 2023

  • Take The Next Step

Submit your application

Undergraduates

To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

Undergraduate Adult Learners

To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

Graduates

To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.