Juries

"Eugene Raphael Hudders es productor independiente y programador del LUSCA Film Fest, uno de los principales festivales de cine de género en Puerto Rico. Su trabajo se enfoca en impulsar el cine fantástico, de horror, ciencia ficción y culto, creando espacios de exhibición y diálogo entre audiencias y cineastas locales e internacionales.

En cine, figura como productor en proyectos como La jaula (2000) y Barricada (2010), largometraje reconocido en el Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest, además de cortometrajes como Una Maleta para Dos (2014). También ha colaborado como autor con el capítulo “Cómo producir una película de zombis” en el libro Manual de Cine de Género (Experiencias de la Guerra Audiovisual en América Latina). Su experiencia combina gestión de producción, curaduría y una especialización sostenida en cine de clase B y de culto." 

Xabier Uria es Licenciado en Comunicación Audiovisual con especialidad en Cine por la Universidad de Salamanca (UPSA).

Es uno de los socios fundadores, junto con Iñigo Portillo, de La Córnea Digital, productora audiovisual vasca que acaba de participar en la producción del largometraje “Simulacro” (Nitya López) así como de la serie para “Aloka(h)iru” (Alba Lozano, Nitya López).

A su vez codirige el Festival Internacional de Cortos y Videoclips Caostica, certamen calificador para los Premios Goya que acaba de celebrar su 24ª edición en Bilbao, País Vasco.

Actualmente trabaja en la primera edición de Caostica MX, expansión a Latinoamérica del Festival Caostica, que se llevará a cabo a finales de agosto en la Ciudad de México.

Xabier se declara fiel devoto y colaborador de la Iglesia Macabra del Séptimo Día, a la que venera desde hace más de 2 lustros.

Mexican director, screenwriter, and editor, originally from Xalapa, Veracruz. He is a programmer at Kiltro Cinema. A graduate of the Luis Buñuel Veracruz Film School, he studied film editing at the EICTV and took a screenwriting workshop at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica. He has served as a jury member at the Guadalajara International Film Festival (2016), the Bogotá International Film Festival (2018), and the Horror in the Mountains Festival (2024). His short films have been screened and recognized at various international festivals. His most recent short film, Viejo Pozo, was an official selection at the Macabro Film Festival and Shorts México; it has also been recognized at festivals in Mexico, Italy, Canada, and Ukraine, among others. He teaches filmmaking workshops and is a screenwriting professor for the bachelor's degree program at the Luis Buñuel Veracruz Film School.

Degree in Journalism from the EHU and Master's in Digital Arts from Pompeu Fabra University. Founding member of Caostica, the association organizing the Caostica International Short Film and Music Video Festival—of which he is co-director—, Tracking Bilbao, and the Gizazinea conference. He works independently as an audiovisual producer, cultural manager, photographer, and video jockey. In 2024, his first book Dentro del Hoyo (Liburuak) was published, about the film El Hoyo (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2019), where he worked as a community manager and stunt double for the actor Zorion Eguileor (Trimagasi).

Iñigo L. Portillo is an audiovisual producer and cultural manager, holding a degree in Pedagogy and a founding partner of La Córnea Digital. For over two decades, he has been promoting film and cultural projects, combining executive production with the strategic development of audiovisual initiatives, the search for new funding avenues, and the creation of collaborative networks among institutions, companies, and professionals in the sector.

As a producer, he has participated in the development of short films, feature films, and series, notably the feature film Simulacro, directed by Nitya López, and the Basque-language comedy series Aloka(h)iru, created by Nitya López and Alba Lozano. At the same time, he directs and coordinates initiatives such as the Caostica International Short Film and Music Video Festival, a qualifying event for the Goya Awards; Tracking Bilbao, a gathering dedicated to digital culture, mediation, and cultural innovation; and other exhibition and audiovisual industry projects.

He is currently preparing his directorial debut with the short film "El castillo de Drácula", a project with his own script inspired by a family experience and developed with the mentorship of Haritz Zubillaga through Gidoi and OFF ESCAC.

Zoilo Rodríguez Hernández is a cultural producer and distributor focused on the expansion of genre cinema from the Caribbean to global audiences. He is the founder and director of LUSCA Film Fest, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026, consolidated as the main fantastic film festival in Puerto Rico and one of the most relevant platforms for the genre in the region. His work focuses on building bridges between territories, strengthening the presence of the Caribbean within the international ecosystem, and promoting cultural exchange through cinema.

Fabio Colonna is a Mexican director, screenwriter, and producer, co-founder of Reserva Films, and one of the most representative voices of the new generation of horror cinema in Mexico. His work explores psychological horror, the ominous, and the fragility of the human condition through an auteur approach that combines visual experimentation with emotional depth. His filmography has been recognized at some of the most important fantastic film festivals in the world, notably UNHEIMLICH, winner of Best Short Film at Sitges and considered by IMCINE as one of the Mexican short films with the greatest international projection. In addition to directing and producing projects such as SUTURA and K.O. – MALCRIADA, he has participated in international genre productions like V/H/S/85, consolidating himself as a key figure in the contemporary evolution of Mexican fantastic and horror cinema.

José Hernández Riwes Cruz is a writer, musician, and professor-researcher at UAM Azcapotzalco, born in 1971. His academic work specializes in Mexican pop culture, new wave, and the evolution of the national dark scene. He is the author of notable books on cinema, gothic literature, and music, such as Jumping Someone Else's Train REMIX and Vamos a jugar a Londres. In his musical facet, he stands out as a founding member of the rock bands Hueco and The Dragulas. His research also addresses the relationships between cinema, music, and mass media, with a special interest in the fantasy and science fiction genres as spaces where technological imagination, cultural transformations, and representations of modernity converge.  As a teacher, he has taught courses on gothic literature, horror, popular culture, and cinema, exploring the ways in which these expressions dialogue with contemporary history and society.

Operations and Technical Manager of La Casa del Cine. With 10 years leading the cinema's operations, throughout these years I have dedicated myself to keeping La Casa del Cine alive as an independent space dedicated to film exhibition, training, and dialogue, as a meeting point for filmmakers, students, and spectators. My connection with cinema goes way back; a collector by passion, I have dedicated my free time to gathering and watching films, as well as listening to music in different formats.

A lover of dogs, cats, vampires, and tattoos, a cinephile with a dark and eclectic background, a follower of the cinema of David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Lars von Trier, and Quentin Tarantino, of B-movies and extreme cult cinema. A passionate listener of soundtracks, I understand music as an essential part of the cinematic experience.

Fabián Forte es productor ,asistente de dirección, guionista y director de cine. Cómo asistente de dirección o director asistente, trabajo en más de 35 largometrajes , algunos de ellos son las películas Diablo, Camino a La Paz, Aterrados, Cuando acecha la maldad. Cómo guionista y director ha hecho 14 largometrajes, seleccionados y premiados internacionalmente. Sus titulos son Mala Carne (2003) Celo (2007) Malditos sean! ( 2010) La corporación (2012) Socios por accidente 1 y su escuela (2014/15) El muerto cuenta su historia (2016) Cantantes en guerra (2017) Limbo (2018) Legiones (2020) Juego de brujas (2022) Retratos del apocalipsis (2024) El mal sueño de ser eterno ( en post producción) Dosis ( actualmente en rodaje)

Gerardo Oñate

BIOGRAPHY 2026

A Mexican actor born in Mexico City in 1986, he dedicated himself to human rights until he ventured into television, radio, and eventually film. After more than 30 short films (in several of them also as a screenwriter and producer), and following the success of productions such as El Poderoso Victoria, La Laguna Rosa, or his participation in series like Ahora Que No Estás for Prime Video, Bandidos (Season 2) for Netflix, or Lobo – Morir Matando for Telemundo, he ventured into directing with El Vocho del Averno, a chilango cumbia-horror short film which has over 45 national and international selections, and 5 awards for best short film. In 2026, after 4 weeks in movie theaters throughout Mexico, he awaits the arrival on streaming platforms of El Ritual del Nahual, his first film as creator and screenwriter, in addition to being the lead actor.

General Director and co-founder of the International Film Festival with Alternative Media, cultural manager, promoter of the use of new technologies in audiovisuals,  visual artist, art director in film, theater, and TV, he has been a jury member for technology contests such as “Solutions for the Future, IPN Award” , jury member at film festivals  such as SHORTS MÉXICO Feratum Film Fest, FIC Nuevo León, Macabro Film Fest, Tlanchana Fest, speaker and panelist at events and projects such as Talent Land Jalisco, Epicentro GIFF, VR FEST Mx, SAE INSTITUTE, Facultad de Cine, CENART Transmedia Narratives Colloquium, Shorts México. Founder AND President  of the CANACINE State of Mexico Delegation.

Carlos Meléndez is a director and screenwriter influenced by the MTV generation and genre cinema, whose style fuses the irreverent with the macabre. His film debut, After School (2014), won Best Director and Best Picture at the Encuentro Mundial de Cine. With his second feature film, Histeria (2016), he was named Best Director at the Macabro Horror Film Festival. He directed the segment "Ya es hora" in México bárbaro II and ten short films screened at more than 160 international festivals. As a producer, his collaboration on Adrián García Bogliano's films stands out, including Alguien está en la puerta (2025). In television, he has directed internationally acclaimed series for Netflix, Sony, and Discovery Channel, such as My Encounter with Evil. He has also led social documentary projects on corruption in Mexico and participated in horror writers' rooms for Lemon Studios. His creative versatility allows him to constantly expand his narrative between fantastic fiction, suspense, and social reality.

Sean Abley is a journalist, podcaster, screenwriter, and playwright. A frequent contributor to Fangoria magazine, Sean is the creator of Queer Horror: A Film Guide (McFarland Books), a 500-page encyclopedia of horror films with LGBTQ content, and most recently the new fanzine Physical Media Booklet Essay. His "Gay of the Dead" column for Fangoria.com (abre en nueva pestaña) in 2009 was the first horror blog dedicated exclusively to profiling LGBTQ filmmakers working in the genre. He has contributed essays to booklets for 4K UHD box set releases from publishers such as Arrow Video, Second Sight, and Cinématographe. Additionally, he created the "Queer Horror" panel for San Diego Comic-Con in 2015, and is a frequent moderator, panelist, and podcast guest on all things horror cinema. (abre en nueva pestaña)www.seanabley.com (abre en nueva pestaña)

Travis Parke Campbell is a producer originally from a small town in Florida whose name he prefers to omit. Since moving to Los Angeles, he has produced numerous feature films and short films, in addition to being part of the production team for series such as Euphoria, The Morning Show, and Goliath, and films such as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and Kajillionaire. Fascinated by people and cultural diversity, Travis currently resides in Mexico, the country where he learned Spanish. He defines himself as a passionate and tenacious filmmaker, with the firm purpose of dedicating the rest of his life to producing weird independent cinema.