Luigi Abanto Varese (Trujillo-Perú, 1975). In 2004 Luigi started his creative career by studying photography at the CEV (Visual Studies Centre) in Barcelona. His first photographic project, Sharing Spaces (Compartiendo Espacios), was named second best project of the year in the Revelados 06 competition, organized by Obra Social Caja Madrid.

In 2008 he founded New Citizen Productions, which went on to produce the short films El Casting (The Audition) and Regime Change (2009).

 

In 2010 he was awarded First Prize by the photographic magazine Ojo de Pez for his photo La Sombra del Niño (The Boy's Shadow), part of his Instantes series. The same year, Barcelona publishing house La Fabrica organised “A Meeting with Luigi Abanto Varese”, a review of his photographic work and the projection of his video art projects  Introproyección and Ayahuasca – A Ritual of a Trip.

 

In 2011, the Ruido Photo group's documentary photo magazine, 7.7, awarded him First Prize in photography for his project Dependent Lives. The same year, he founded Camera & Tripod, a production company specialised in documentary films, such as Talking with Ernesto Bazan (Ex- Magnum Photos), a study of the work of the Italian photographer and winner of the Eugene Smith award (1989). Soon after he produced the documentary Coffee with Jodi Bieber, dedicated to the work of South African photographer Jodi Bieber (World Press Photo 2011), for which he was awarded Best Documentary at the Corti Sonanti Film Festival in Naples, Italy. 2011 was also the year he started his studies at El Plató de Cinema Film School in Barcelona (2011-2014).

 

In 2013 he produced the short film Being an Angel, a homage to the famous photographer Francesca Woodman. The short was shown as part of the Creative Commons Film Festival at Barcelona's Museum of Modern Art (MACBA), as well as being given the award for Best Editing at the European Independent Film Festival (ECU) in Paris, France.

 

In 2015, New Citizen Productions and El Plató de Cinema produced his most recent short Astrid, a fictional film dedicated to his love of photography. In the same year, his video art project Ayahuasca – A Ritual of a Trip was shown as part of the documentary photography festival Doc Field Barcelona 2015 and his project Dependent Lives was chosen to participate in Ojo de Pez magazine's Photo Meeting at the Virreina Palace in Barcelona.

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Photography Awards and Acknowledgements

 

2015: Dependent Lives selected as part of the international photography festival Photo Meeting, organised by photography magazine Ojo de Pez.

 

2015: Ayahuasca - A Ritual of a Trip selected in the Nits DocField15 section of documentary photo festival DOCFIELD 15 in Barcelona.

 

2015: Named Photographer of the Week by documentary photography magazine Photo Certamen PHC.

 

2015: Instantes series - Finalist at the Guipuzcoa International Photography Competition.

 

2014: The Storm is Over series - Finalist in the Shoot the People competition, organised by documentary photography magazine Photo Certamen PHC.

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2014: The Storm is Over, Sunny Days Series- Finalist in the Street Photography competition organised by Sigma Photography.

 

2011: Dependent Lives - First prize in documentary photography from Photography Magazine 7.7.

 

2010: “The Boy's Shadow”, Instantes series - First prize in photography at the Ojo de Pez Photo Meeting in Barcelona.

 

2006: Sharing Spaces series - Second Prize in photography in the Revelados 06 photography competition organised by Obra Social Caja Madrid.

 

2006: Sharing Spaces series - Finalist at the Week of Interculturalism Festival organised by Fundación Sergi – Girona, Spain.

 

 

Film Awards and Acknowledgements

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Noida International Film Festival, Noida, India.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Landshuter Kurz Film Festival, Munich, Alemania.

 

2016: Astrid (short)- Winner Best Actor Xavi Siles, Macabre Faire International Film Festival, New York, USA.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Nominated best foreign film, Macabre Faire International Film Festival, New York, USA.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Acocollonat International Horror Fantastic Film Festival, Gerona, Italy.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Macabre Faire International Film Festival, New York, USA.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Ores De Miedo  Concurso de Cortometrajes de Terror, Zaragoza, Spain.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Linea D'Ombra Festival Culture Giovani, Salerno, Italy.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Miami Independet Film Festival, Miami, USA.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, 49th SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival in the Nova Autoría SGAE section. , Sitges, Spain.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Parma International Music Film Festival, Parma, Italy.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, Fingal Film Festival, Dublin, Ireland.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, International Fantastic Film Festival Cinefantasy, Sao Paulo, Brasil.

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2016: Astrid (short)- Official Selection, International Fantastic Film Festival, SANT CUGAT FANTASTIC, Barcelona, Spain.

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2016: Astrid (short) - First Prize, Best Short, Film School competitive section. XVIII Barcelona International Short and Animation Film Festival, MECAL, Barcelona, Spain.

 

2015: Being an Angel (short) - First Prize for Best Editing at the ECU European Independent Film Festival in Paris, France.

 

2014: Coffee with Jodi Bieber (short) - Official Selection, Censurados Film Festival, Lima, Peru.

 

2014: Coffee with Jodi Bieber (short) - Official Selection, Tolfa Short Film Festival, Rome, Italy.

 

2014: Being an Angel (short) - Official Selection, ITFF International Tour Film Festival, Rome, Italy.

 

2013: Coffee with Jodi Bieber (short) - First Prize, Best Documentary Short, Corti Sonanti Festival Internazionale di Cortometraggi, Naples, Italy.

 

2013: Coffee with Jodi Bieber (short) - Finalist National Section, Aguilar del Campoo International Short Film Festival, Spain.

 

2013: Coffee with Jodi Bieber (short) - Official Selection, International Short Film Competition,Ciudad de  Soria, Spain.

 

2013: Coffee with Jodi Bieber (short) - Finalist Best Short Fiction, FICH Hermosillo International Film Festival, Mexico.

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2013: Coffee with Jodi Bieber (short) - Official Selection, FICCHT Toluca Historical Centre's International Film Festival, Mexico.

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2013: Being an Angel (short) - Official Selection, Made in Barcelona MACBA Creative Commons Inc. Film Festival.

 

2013: Being an Angel (short) - Finalist, Best Short Documentary, FICH Hermosillo International Film Festival, Mexico.

 

2013: Being an Angel (short) - Official Selection, Video Art Film Festival BIDEODROMO, Bilbao, Spain.

 

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