Q&A Panelist Bios

MARIEM PÉREZ RIERA (DIRECTOR/ PRODUCER)

Born in Puerto Rico, Mariem, at age nine, performed in the leading role of the movie "The Two Worlds of Angelita". At that moment she decided to become a film director. Her first documentary "Cuando lo pequeño se hace grande", about the Puerto Ricans who fought against the US Navy presence in the island of Vieques, was awarded Best Documentary at various international film festivals. She then debuted as film editor of the blockbuster film from rapper Daddy Yankee "Talento de Barrio". In 2005 she founded her own production company Maramara Films and in 2007 she codirected with Carlos Ruiz and edited her first feature "Maldeamores" (executive produced by Benicio Del Toro). The film won several international awards including Best Opera Prima, Audience Award, Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Actress. Mariem’s other producing and directing credits include the award winning documentaries "De Puerto Rico Para El Mundo", "Diez En La Música", and Emmy®-winner "Croatto, La Huella De Un Emigrante". Mariem has a BA degree in film studies from University of Miami and a Continuation Studies degree with an emphasis on Documentary and Editing from NYU in New York and from EICTV in Havana, Cuba.

ILIA J. VÉLEZ-DÁVILA (CO-PRODUCER) began her career in television with Emmy® Award winning documentarian, Eduardo Aguiar, working on the docuseries, Caras de Puerto Rico, for the local public station in Puerto Rico. After a decade establishing herself as one of the premier producers in the advertising, Ilia started her own production company, Resonancia PR/MEX. Her features include El Misterio del Trinidad, a coproduction with Warner Brothers Mexico, which was nominated for Best Film at the Goya Awards in Spain and won Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor at the Arieles Awards (an award comparable to the Oscars in the U.S.). She served as producer for Maldeamores, a film co-directed by Mariem Pérez Riera and Executive Produced by Benicio del Toro. She produced Ángel, and Dios los Cría II, with Jacobo Morales, the only Puerto Rican director nominated for an Academy Award. Her most recent documentary Nuyorican Básquet won Audience award at the Chicago Film Festival.

Erika Mallin | Aspen Institute Arts Program

Erika Mallin is the Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Arts Program. The Program – whose mission is to honor and give platform to artists and cultural leaders as one of society’s most important innovators and influencers - encompasses core programs and curated conversations and events in New York, Washington D.C., Aspen and elsewhere including the Aspen Ideas Festival Arts Track, the Eisner/Lauder New Views Documentaries Series, The Michelle Smith Arts and Culture Series and the year-long Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence program which more deeply explores the work of selected artists and their impact on society. Prior to joining Aspen Institute, Mallin was Executive Director of New York City’s Tony-Award winning Signature Theatre, producing over 100 plays and leading Signature’s expansion to the Frank Gehry-designed Pershing Square Signature Center. Mallin also led Signature’s subsidized ticket program to make theater accessible to new and diverse audiences. To date, the program has served over one million people and has become a national model. She has lectured on the arts management at Yale, Columbia, and NYU and received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her M.A. from Columbia’s School of Journalism.