KINO REBELDE
Kino Rebelde is a Film Sales Agency created by María Vera in early 2017. It is dedicated to crafting creative festival and alternative strategies for non-mainstream narratives.
Mainly focused on documentary, experimental and hybrid narratives, since 2023 starts supporting a few fictional projects per year. Open to any length, country origin and form.
Through its curated slate, we select only a few films per year, prioritizing aesthetic, narrative, and political transgression. It is committed to artistic freedom and disobedience—to looking for more questions than answers and seeking for radical perspectives and gestures, never afraid of their fragility.
Films with a clear author points of view, where human relations, identities, desires, memory, risks, and criticism are developed sensitively find a unique place in this catalogue.
We believe that experimental cinema directed by women has contributed a lot and not been always properly valued. We have embraced the complete filmographies of artists we deeply admire, such as Trinh T. Minh-ha and Lynne Sachs, hoping to make a small difference.
Transparency and diversity are fundamental in our philosophy of work, together with personal communication, creativity, collaborations, and strategic alliances.
We accompany films and filmmakers in the process of promoting and elaborating specialized strategies for each project.
The films in our catalog have been selected in +1000 festivals worldwide and awarded in major and relevant events such as Berlinale, Locarno, IFFR Rotterdam, IDFA & IDFA DocLab, Karlovy Vary, Visions du Réel, FidMarseille, New York FF, TIFF, Hot Docs, Jeonju, Viennale, Sarajevo, Singapore, among others.
They have also been presented in +1500 alternative spaces like museums, cinematheques, galleries, film archives, cultural association and art-house theatres. MoMA, Museum Reina Sofia, Centre Pompidou, Pera Museum, Harvard Film Archive, MoMI, Korean Film Archive, Image Forum Tokyo, National Art Gallery, La Cinémathèque française, National Museum of the DRC, Bozar, TATE Modern, MAM São Paulo, are just few of them.
We work directly with Universities and Libraries worldwide and we are proud to have established collaboration with more than 80 institutions worldwide.
MARÍA VERA
Festival Distributor and Sales Agent based in Lisbon and founder of Kino Rebelde. She specializes in crafting distribution strategies for independent and author-driven films.
With a background in producing socio-political and human rights content, as well as curating films, María has championed both emerging and established filmmakers since 2017.
Her catalog embraces documentary, hybrid, and experimental cinema—films that have resonated across major festivals, cinematheques, museums, and art spaces worldwide.
She has served as a jury member at Doclisboa, Women Make Waves IFF, Beldocs, Ji.hlava, Winterthur, and also shared her expertise through teaching at institutions such as UnionDocs, EICTV Cuba, ESCINE Mexico, University of Vermont, UNTREF Argentina and Locarno Academy. María has been Speaker at Cannes Docs, IFFR, Berlinale (Teddy Award), Golden Apricot IFF, Clermont-Ferrand, Doclisboa, RIDM Montréal, among others.
Through Kino Rebelde, María forges new connections between artists and audiences around the world, forging a space for dissonant storytelling.
ZYANYA CASTILLA
Born in Verona, Italy, she holds a degree in International Relations from Florence University and Milan ISPI Schools.
Zyanya has worked for nine years as a programmer and producer for the Film Festival della Lessinia. She is one of the founders of the collective Ezme Film, working in production.
In 2022, she joined Kino Rebelde as Festival Manager of Short Films.
DIANDRA ARRIAGA
Mexican filmmaker and producer. Her work focuses on experimental video and non-linear narratives, incorporating analog and databending techniques in her practice.
Her debut short film “An Exemplary Punk” (2023), had its world premiere at FICUNAM and was selected for Mar del Plata IFF.
Alongside María Vera, she co-founded Frenesí Films, a dynamic space dedicated to redefining creativity and emphasizing the inherent power of storytelling and experimentation.
In 2024, she joined Kino Rebelde to professionalize her interest in creative distribution.
