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Ayerím Villanueva is a Dominican–Costa Rican filmmaker, producer and sound artist whose work lies at the intersection of auteur cinema, sonic exploration and visual research. Her interdisciplinary practice integrates film, photography, poetry, experimental music and narrative inquiry, exploring themes such as memory, the body, intimacy, care, and the emotional and social tensions of everyday life.

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She studied Film Directing, Screenwriting and Production at Universidad Veritas in Costa Rica and has furthered her training through international documentary and project development workshops across Latin America and the Caribbean, including programs at the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in Cuba.

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In 2017 she founded Ocho y Medio Audiovisual, an independent production company through which she develops film and audiovisual projects in collaboration with artists and filmmakers from Central America and the Caribbean. In addition to her work as a director and producer, she has worked as a sound recordist on several Central American feature films, including Güilas, Medea and Women Who Were Present, among others.

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Her short film Elena (2017) was screened at more than 30 international film festivals and received the Jury Prize at the Nahia Film Festival in Spain, the Audience Award at the Central American Film Festival in Vienna and a Special Jury Mention at the CIBA-CILECT film school showcase in Brazil.

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She is currently working on the post-production of the feature documentary Aba, while developing her projects Haymo, supported by the CRFIC Industry Fund and the Fauno Fund for development, and the fiction feature Dos Veranos, supported by the Fonprocine Fund in the Dominican Republic.

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Alongside her filmmaking practice, Ayerím Villanueva works as a university lecturer in film, photography and audiovisual communication, researching the relationship between image, sound and narrative in contemporary cinema.

 

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Filmography

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Director / Writer

Elena, Shortfilm, 23mins, Costa Rica, Rep. Dominicana, España, Portugal, 2017
Screened at more than 40 international film festivals.​

Huellas, shorfilm, 10mins, Costa Rica, 2016

These Days,  Experimental Short, Costa Rica, 2016

Nostalgia, Short Film, Costa Rica, 2014

Rosario, Short Film, Costa Rica, 2014

Un montón de sueños, Short Film Serie, Costa Rica - Chile 2021

Haymo, Feature Documentary, In Development, 2026

Dos Veranos, Fiction Feature Film, In Development, 2026

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Producer

Aba, Feature Documentary, In Post-Production 

Dos Veranos, Feature Film,  In Development

Haymo, Feature Documentary, In Development

Elena, Short Film, 2017

A bunch of dreams, Short film Serie, 2021, Costa Rica-Chile

Huellas, 2016, Documentary Short

These Days, 2016, Experimental Short

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Sound Recordist

Güilas, Dir. Sergio Pucci, Feature film, 2018

Medea, Dir. Alexandra Latishev, Feature film, 2018

Women Who Were Present ,  Dir. Patricia Howell,  Feature film, 2016

Path of Love, Dir. Patricia Howell, Feature film, 2019

Black Traces, Dir. Eliana del Rosario, Feature film, 2022

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 Editor

Women Who Were Present ,  Dir. Patricia Howell,  Feature film, 2016