WRITING. Mildred Tejada He took his dream beyond belief. The journalist and producer born in Tegucigalpa managed to get her short film “Riccy” will jump outside the borders and tour festivals in Latin America, the United States and Europe.
She herself never thought that her desire to tell the story of the atrocious murder of the normal school student on the big screen Riccy Mabel Martínez Sevillawhich occurred in 1991, would take her that far.
The short film starring Adriana Vegas and Luis Rojas addresses Riccy’s last days, her life as a normal student and her dream of being a teacher, in addition to living the illusion of love, days before she was murdered by the military.
With this short film, Mildred, who is an activist for women’s rights, calls for not normalizing violence of any kind, emphasizing that, although society is currently seeing it that way, it will never be normal.
“May cinema be the vehicle to never forget such bloody events and may cinema contribute to moving the will to protect the girls, adolescents and women of Honduras,” said Tejada.
Cinema that crosses borders After being presented on national cinema screens, the short “Riccy” received a nomination at the twelfth edition of the International Political Film Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
But the festival streak was just beginning. Later he was nominated in the category of Best Short of the Year at the Saria Festival, in Orlando, Florida, obtaining this award, in a competition in which works from more than 90 short films from countries such as India, Japan, Korea, the United States participated. United States, Mexico and Argentina.
It was followed by the official selection of the Montreal Women Film Festival, Canada, being selected from more than a thousand short films from around the world.
Later it won the award for Best Film Direction at the Miami International Film Festival, Best Narrative Short Film at the Women’s Festival in Berlin, Germany, where they competed against two thousand productions. And, recently, Mildred won the award for Best Human Rights Short Film at the Independent Women Film Awards in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Personal life
Mildred has a degree in Journalism with a master’s degree in Communication for Development from the Andrés Bello Catholic University of Caracas, Venezuela and a doctorate in Communication, Social Change and Development from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
On her resume she also has a diploma in Sustainable Tourism and Communication that she obtained at the University of La Salle, in Cancún, Mexico, and another in Gender and Communication at the José Martí Institute of Journalism, in Havana, Cuba. She has been a professor at several universities in the country.
For more than 25 years she has worked as a communicator in international organizations, including as communications officer for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Daughter of a teacher, who has always accompanied her to achieve her dreams, she is the mother of two children and in 2022 she married her schoolmate.
Mildred, who dreamed of being an actress, took her dream further. Today, after having presented her short film at several international festivals, she is ready to release it this coming January 25, 2024 in national cinemas.
