Iris Almaraz is an East LA Chicana filmmaker whose formative years ranged from homelessness and juvenile detention to graduating from one of the nation’s most prestigious arts high schools. After earning her BFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University, her first short premiered at the renowned Rotterdam International Film Festival. Her $30k feature Delusions of Grandeur debuted at Cinequest with sold-out screenings and was later listed as a top-five Latino film pick by festival programmers.

She has since directed numerous international award-winning shorts. Her latest work, Red Onion, premiered at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival in 2024 after being developed through the Women of Color Filmmakers’ Advanced Directing Program. Her proof-of-concept short Rocketship—a 2023 Eastside Arts Initiative recipient—expands on themes of survival and dignity drawn from her lived experiences, and three of her scripts have been finalists at the Sundance Labs.

In 2023, Iris received the Jan Marino Scholarship, which supported her MFA in Screenwriting at Stephens College (completed in 2025). She is also a fellow of the Mentoring Latina Directors Fellowship. Beyond her own films, Iris teaches filmmaking to Latinas and at-risk youth through Creative M Planet and Operation Street Kidz.

As Co-Director of the Latina Independent Film Extravaganza (LIFE), Iris continues to champion Latina voices, creating space for filmmakers from East LA to Brazil to thrive and connect. Her filmmaking embraces urban feminine sexuality from a working-class woman of color’s perspective—illuminating without apology.