STAFF

Carlos A. Gutiérrez, Co-founder and Executive Director

Carlos A. Gutiérrez is a film/video programmer, cultural promoter and arts consultant based in New York City. As a guest curator, he has presented several film/video series at different cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Film at Lincoln Center, and BAMcinématek. Along with Mahen Bonetti, he curated the 53rd edition of the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar. He serves in the board of directors of Film Forum, is a contributing editor to BOMB Magazine, and has served as a member of the jury and the selection committees for various international film festivals including Morelia, Seattle, Margaret Mead, SANFIC, and DocsDF, among others. He has served as both expert nominator and panelist for the Rockefeller Fellowship Program for Mexican Film & Media Arts and for The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, as well as a screening panelist for the Oscars' Academy Awards for film students. He holds MA in Cinema Studies from New York University and a BA in Communications from Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City).

Mary Jane Marcasiano, Director of Development and Special Projects

Mary Jane Marcasiano is the president of her eponymous design company in New York City and actively involved in the arts and non-profit community in NY, Brazil and West Africa.  She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design/The New School, and in 2019 she received a Masters Degree from NYU Gallatin focusing on the intersection of Art, Nonprofits and Social Change. She is recipient of the Cartier, DuPont, Cutty Sark and Wool Knit Awards, and has designed costumes for DanceBrazil, the New York City Ballet, the Brazilian films: Até Quando (2008), Reaching for the Moon (2013), and for Grammy award winning singer Angelique Kidjo. Marcasiano has produced several films in Brazil: Ginga (Gustavo Moraes, 2004), Reaching for the Moon" (Bruno Barreto), Alair Gomes (Gustavo Moraes, in development), and in the U.S. a documentary film, Jack Lenor Larsen (2016) with CheckerBoard Films. For three years she served as the President of the Board of Directors of DanceBrazil, a non-profit foundation dedicated to cultural exchange between Brazil and the U.S. She is the programmer for Cinema Tropical’s Music+Film series and founder of their Brazilian film initiative Janeiro in New York. In 2007 Marcasiano created the Made With Love Project, a non-profit global initiative dedicated to raising funds and awareness for NGOs aiding women and children in need in Brazil, Africa and Haiti.

Samuel Didonato, Assistant Director

Samuel Didonato is a graduate of The International School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (EICTV) where he graduated with a specialty in Film Production. He holds a BA in History with a focus on the formation of collective memory and popular imagination. While at the EICTV he worked on fiction and nonfiction productions from development to distribution, working collaboratively with international directors. Prior to working in film, he worked as a community organizer and media coordinator, contributing video and written reporting for Unicorn Riot, Truth Out, Democracy Now! and NPR. He also was a member of Rebel Lens Baltimore and a committee member of Neighborhood Voices, where he co-organized community arts workshops and taught photo and video workshops in Baltimore.

Juan Pedro Agurcia, Cinema Tropical Awards Producer

Juan Pedro Agurcia works in cinema production, programming, promotion and distribution. He has been the Producer of the Cinema Tropical Awards Program since 2019. He was the Producer of the UnionDocs Breakout Symposium 2021, the Online Producer of the 67th Flaherty Film Seminar: Continents of Drifting Clouds and the Producer of the event New Nature: An Immersive Media and Climate Science Exchange, sponsored by the Goethe-Institut. He is co-founder and programmer of Tercer Cine, the only independent exhibition project in Honduras, for whom he recently served as Lead Producer and Curator of Fragments and Memories: Human Rights Film Festival. He is also the co-founder and editor of Corrientes, a trilingual digital platform dedicated to expanding access and opening conversation with and through experimental Latin American cinema.

Mara Behrens, Art Director

Mara Behrens is a Silicon Valley creative director with more than 15 years of global experience who is passionate about combining effective brand integration with seamless user experience and design. She has directed market strategy, shaped brand identity, and provided innovative user-centric experiences across multiple platforms for a diverse array of clients. She is a keen believer in using metrics and building sustainable processes in her work, a result of professional and holistic experiences with diverse cultures in countries ranging from Venezuela and France to Mexico and the United States.

Sam Brodsky, Education and Outreach Associate

Sam Brodsky is an independent producer and filmmaker originally from Santiago, Chile. He graduated in 2021 from Kenyon College with a BA in Film and English Literature. At Kenyon, he was the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Collegian Magazine, and specialized in documentary filmmaking. Since graduating, he has worked in distribution, marketing, and independent production.

Gaby Brennan, Intern

Gaby Brennan is a student at Fordham University majoring in Anthropology and French and Francophone studies. Raised across six countries, she holds a special interest in the intersections between language, identity, and culture. Outside of her studies, she enjoys creative writing and working at Fordham’s student-run radio station.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Cinema Tropical's programs are made possible with the support of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathleen Hochul and the New York State Legislature. They are also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the National Endowments for the Arts.