The Arlington Film Festival offers a unique opportunity for cross-cultural education by promoting understanding of the many cultures represented in our town and beyond. We are registered in Arlington, Massachusetts as an organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and increasing multicultural awareness and understanding. The festival is a means for recognizing that such diversity enriches our community.
We believe that our annual international film festival highlights core values and aspirations we share in common with our culturally diverse neighbors and with all members of the global human family. Local filmmakers are especially encouraged to submit entries.
Included in our mission is the commitment to nurture the next generation of talented filmmakers. The Festival offers a unique opportunity for local high school students to showcase their talent- in film and graphic art.
JAINA CIPRIANO, Executive Director
Jaina Cipriano is an experiential designer, filmmaker, and photographer, exploring the emotional toll of religious and romantic entrapment. Her hand-built worlds communicate with our neglected inner child and are informed by explosive colors, elements of play, and the push/pull of light and dark.
Jaina founded Finding Bright Studios - a design company in Lowell specializing in set design for music videos and immersive spaces. They have created spaces for Johnny Cupcakes, Massport, Level 99, and The Fenway. From Butter Benches to Tiny Rooms, Finding Bright works to bring playful wonder back into our daily lives.
Jaina has directed and written several short films, including Trauma Bond, a dark and magical coming-of-age story that took home the Grand Prize at The Lonely Seal Film Festival in Arlington, MA. Her limited series The Impostor Syndrome, created in collaboration with Lowell Public Media and Martian Radio Theater, will premiere in late 2024.
Jaina has hosted and curated DIY film nights with GRRL HAUS at The Brattle, built immersive spaces for Boston Art Review, and was a Boston Fellow for the Mass Art Creative Business Incubator and a finalist in Efor All Merrimack Valley.
J. ALBERTO GUZMAN, Co-founder
Alberto, originally from Colombia, came to the U. S. in 1985, settled in Chicago and later moved to Boston. He is both an educator and a journalist. He has worked as an educator for 23 years in both the public and private sectors and believes that education is an essential tool for preparing our young people to assume their personal and social responsibilities. Alberto has enjoyed a successful career in journalism, in radio broadcasting as well as owning and operating a newspaper. From a young man Alberto has given of himself through community organizing and his work with human rights organizations. He has greatly enjoyed organizing this Festival for the residents of Arlington and Boston at-large. Alberto completed his studies at Inpahu University, Bogota, Colombia.
APRIL RANCK GUZMAN, Co-founder and Director Emeritus
April moved to Cambridge, MA in 1978, graduating from Harvard University with a concentration in philosophy and comparative religious movements. She has worked as a women’s health counselor, taught English as a Second Language, and has had a 25 year career in property management. She worked at the Society of Arts + Crafts for 6 years as their Business Manager and later Director of Community and Strategic Partnerships, and fully devoted herself to the Festival after leaving that position. For many years, her volunteer work has focused on working with Hospice. She shares a love of film with Alberto and believes that film is an engaging way in which to educate people and improve communications through an enjoyable and subtle experience.
AIFF, although known to partners and viewers worldwide, is the product of a small handful of individuals. Alberto and April have acted as directors, fundraisers, liaisons, marketers, announcers, interviewers, and everything in between. They rely on the expertise of the Judge Panel and the skills of Vicky Rodriguez, Wizard Behind the Curtain to prepare for a year before the Festival comes to town. Those magical few days, AIFF relies on a team of dedicated, hardworking volunteers to sell tickets, hand out programs, and usher visitors around the Capitol Theatre. Many thanks to everyone who makes this possible! (And a special thanks to the team at Xerb.tv, who made it possible to continue the Festival virtually through the pandemic.)
VICKY RODRIGUEZ, Wizard Behind the Curtain
Vicky is an artist and arts administrator with a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, where she currently manages the Metals and Fibers Studios. She primarily considers herself a problem-solver, and has used her project management skills to produce educational videos and print resources, visual and written digital content, websites, and large-scale fine craft trade shows. A lover of art and a maker of things, Vicky loves applying her organizational skills to build platforms through which other artists can also thrive. At AIFF, she acts as webmaster, Zoom producer, and graphic designer.
