Pacho Velez makes films about the shifting signifiers that some might call people. His most recent feature, Searchers (2021), premiered at Sundance. Alternately humorous and touching, the film draws on encounters with a diverse set of New Yorkers as they navigate their preferred dating apps, searching for their special someone.
His last film, The American Sector (2020, co-directed with Courtney Stephens), premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. His previous features, Manakamana (2013, co-directed with Stephanie Spray) and The Reagan Show (2017, co-directed with Sierra Pettengill), have played around the world, including at the New York Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and on CNN.
Pacho received his MFA from CalArts. In 2015, he was awarded a Princeton Arts Fellowship. At present, he is an assistant professor of Screen Studies at The New School in New York City.