Independent filmmaker Ray Santisteban has worked for the past twenty six years as a documentary filmmaker. His work consistently gravitates toward political subjects and artist profiles, addressing the themes of justice, memory and political transformation.
A graduate of NYU’s film and TV production program, he has explored a variety of subjects including New York Black Panther leader Dhoruba Bin Wahad – PASSIN’ IT ON, (Co-Producer), the roots of Puerto Rican poetry, NUYORICAN POETS CAFE (1994, Director, Producer, Editor), Chicano poetry, VOICES FROM TEXAS (Directed, Producer) and was Senior Producer of VISIONES: LATINO ART AND CULTURE IN THE U.S. a three hour PBS series nationally broadcast in Oct. 2004. He is currently directing THE FIRST RAINBOW COALITION, a feature documentary on a little known multi-ethic alliance in 1960’s Chicago.
Awards garnered include: a 1992 Student Academy Award (information division), a New York Foundation for the Arts Media Fellowship, 1993, a 1996 “Ideas In Action” Award from the National Tele-Media Alliance, a 1996 “Faculty of the Year” Award from the Chicano Studies Program, UW Madison, a 2005 Rockefeller Film and Video Fellowship, and a 2008 and 2016 San Antonio Artists Foundation Filmmaker Award, and a 2016 Tobin Award for Artistic Excellence. Since 1998, he has been based in San Antonio, Texas.
