Azuela; Esteban

He studied a course in traditional animation at the Vancouver Film School (VFS), Canada, and various classes in advanced, experimental and documentary photography Academia de Artes Visuales (AAVI), Ciudad de México. He is the founding partner of the animated collective Viumasters, and received among other grants, the Young Creators Grant of the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA) and the National Council of Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA), Mexico, in 2010. He is currently participating in a Residency of Animation of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB / ONF), Montreal, within the program Hothouse 10. His work has been presented at more than 20 film screenings and festivals around the world. He won for his short film Swing (2007) the award for Best Creation Video at the 2nd Corto Festival Dunas de Cine y Video, España, and the First Animation Prize and the Audience Award at the 3rd Kinoki International College Film Festival, Mexico City, among others. His animated short film Ventosa (2008) was presented in the collective exhibition L’oeil sur les rues,in the Parc de la Villette, and the 5th ARTE Video Night, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. This work also participated in the 1st Foro de Animación Contemporánea Animasivo, Ciudad de México, and the 22nd Encuentro de Cine Latino de Toulouse, Francia, among others. He participated in the 8th Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) with his animated short film Xochimilco 1914 (2010) co-directed with Guicho Nuchez, Carlos Gamboa and Mara Soler Guitián, (members of the collective Viumasters), in the “Canal 22 presents…” program. This work was nominated for an Ariel for Best Animated Short Film at the 53rd Ariel Awards, Mexico; it won the Best Mexican Animated Short Film award at the 13th Guanajuato International Film Festival (GIFF); and received an Honorary Mention at the 12th Crystal Screen Festival, Mexico City. He worked as animation director of the animated short film El Don de los espejos (2013), within the collective Viumasters and directed by Mara Soler Guitián, which is part of the Official Selection of the 12th FICM and which won the Animated Short Film award at the 9th Short Shorts Film Festival Mexico (SSFFM).