María Agui Carter is a filmmaker and founder of Iguana Films. She grew up undocumented in NYC and is a Professor of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College. Crafting tales of heroes and rebels from communities left out of official accounts, Maria's character-driven fiction and non-fiction films challenge assumptions about whose story counts. A former staff producer for the flagship PBS station WGBH in Boston, she has written, directed and/or produced dozens of documentaries and series broadcast around the world and shown in film festivals. Her recent works include the hybrid non-fiction/drama feature REBEL, currently on Amazon Prime, winner of an Erik Barnouw award for best historical films in America; and the PBS broadcast & trans-media series SCIGIRLS nominated for a 2019 daytime Emmy. Her new untitled project for a series on BIPOC women innovators restoring the global ecosystem is in post production for Wild Elements Studio.

Maria has a first-look deal with Concordia Studio that is Executive Producing her series ALLEGED about a Latinx woman incarcerated for the killing of her rapist by her boyfriend.  Her script SECRET LIFE OF LA MARIPOSA, a magical realist fable about survival and resilience exploring immigration and climate change based on her experience growing up undocumented, was supported by Sundance, and is in development. Also in development is her first person documentary BIRTHRIGHT exploring the human right to immigrate, and the racialized roots of immigration policy in America.

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PROGRAM AFFILIATION

Spark Fund

COHORT YEAR

2022

WEBSITE

iguanafilms.com

INSTAGRAM

@iguana_films_llc