RicHArd Feliz

Film Director

Raised in a working-class Mexican American family in Los Angeles, Richard Feliz grew up navigating life between cultures. His search for identity and belonging led him from the military to life as an immigrant in Mexico and later Europe. These experiences of displacement shape his worldview and drive work exploring lives on the margins of the Latino diaspora.

He began his filmmaking journey in 2015 at Norges Kreativ Høyskole in Bergen, Norway. His documentary short Eva (2018), portraying a drag queen in Mexico City, was runner-up at the TIFF x Instagram Shorts Festival.

After relocating to Hamburg, Richard developed the feature documentary Renegade (2024–), which explores the Latin American community behind Europe’s largest trans brothel. The project is funded by the Norwegian Film Institute, co-produced by Zentropa, and was pitched by Richard at Encourage Berlinale.

During this time, he also initiated Keine Kredit, a 35mm photo series examining Hamburg’s kiosk culture and the immigrant families who sustain it. His short film Nightwish (2025), an atmospheric thriller about a young sex worker hunted through the night streets of Mexico City, premiered at Fantasy Film Fest (DE) and is currently on the festival circuit.

In 2025, Richard completed Pitch Please at Hamburg Kurzfilm, participated in Midpoint shorts launch and in 2026 pitched at WEMW in Trieste with his upcoming short PRIMO, developed as a German–Norwegian co-production. He is currently preparing his debut fiction feature.