The artist-led initiative EL DESPACHO is interested in relating visual artists and people from other disciplines and backgrounds with an alternative way of making documentary films by means of playful formative processes.

EL DESPACHO believes that the audiovisual is a tool that helps developing creative and social skills in order to raise awareness about the world’s dramaturgy and the complexity of every human being. More than technique, what we emphasize is the sensitivity that enables us to be and feel connected with the life and social tissue that surround us.

EL DESPACHO is mainly working in Mexico and The Netherlands but previous projects have also taken place in countries like Argentina, Indonesia, Morocco, Peru, Switzerland and the United States.

The main activities of EL DESPACHO are:

• Organizing encounters/exchanges and collaborative documentary film projects for visual artists and people from other fields


• Organizing workshops and finding scholarships for its students (workshops are free of charge)


• Organizing discussions, lectures and presentations in art and cultural centers, schools and universities

The main sources of income of EL DESPACHO are: local and international support for art projects and grants for cultural initiatives.

EL DESPACHO was founded in 1998.

The current leading members of EL DESPACHO are:


• Diego Gutierrez (visual artist and filmmaker, MX / NL)


• Helena Fernandez-Cavada (visual artist, MX)


• Linda Bannink (visual artist and filmmaker, NL)


• Orianna Calderon (writer and communication expert, MX)