Manuel Villarreal is a queer, first-generation Mexican-American writer and director based in Los Angeles. His short film La Bruja made its world premiere at LALIFF and won the Audience Award at the Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today showcase at the Hola Mexico Film Festival. Recently, it also picked up Best Production Design at the Burbank International Film Festival.

In 2024, Villarreal was one of four filmmakers chosen for the mitú x Walmart Filmmaking Mentorship Program, where he wrote and directed El Colibri, which has since amassed over 30,000 views on YouTube. He was also selected for Film Independent’s Project Involve Directing Fellowship, where his short starred Angelica Ross (Pose) and Brian Michael Smith (911 Lone Star). 

With an MFA in Directing from the AFI Conservatory, Villarreal is passionate about exploring grief through a fantastical lens, often using magical realism to tell Latinx and LGBTQ+ stories. He hopes his work helps audiences believe in magic again, because there’s nothing like the power of a story.