Juan Andrés Bello is a documentary researcher and producer who explores the use of archival materials–photos, footage, and textual records–for storytelling purposes. Over the last two decades, his practice has covered a wide range of subjects: architecture, history, cultural heritage, and human rights; both in Latin America and Canada. His portfolio includes independent films, and projects commissioned by A&E, The Biography Channel, and HBO Latin America, as well as digital resources and exhibitions for museums and cultural institutions.
His work has been exhibited at specialized film festivals, including the International Festival of Films on Art / Festival International du Film sur L´Art (FIFA) in Montreal (2009, 2012, and 2013). ‘Villanueva The Devil’, his documentary on Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was selected to be part of ‘A Tale of Two Worlds’, an art exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt (MMK) and the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires (2017-2018).
His latest projects, ‘The Chalatenango Massacres’ and ‘The Telenovela Archives’ have been funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2022, he was awarded The Howard Tanenbaum Fellowship by the Image Center at Toronto Metropolitan University to conduct research on the coverage of El Salvador’s Civil War in the Black Star Collection.
He was one of the lead Archival Producers for ‘Black Life: Untold Stories’, a documentary series that premiered at TIFF and it’s available on CBC Gem. Other archival research projects include: ‘Bones of Crows’, ‘To the Moon’, and ‘Nisman: The Prosecutor, The President, and the Spy’.
Previously, he produced
Sembradores de Optimismo,
a series of short documentaries for HBO Latin America, and
The Dominion Public Building, an interactive documentary on one of Canada’s heritage
landmarks.
Originally from Venezuela, his independent projects include El Cerrito, the history of a modern architecture masterpiece built in Caracas in the 50s, The Queen of the People, which tells the story of the first popular and democratic election in Venezuela and Reverón, the portrayal of one of the pioneers of avant-garde art in Latin America.
He also produced several programs for A&E / The Biography Channel, including specials for the Biography series dedicated to
Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1986;
María Félix, one of the legends of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema,
Carolina Herrera, the world renowned fashion designer, and
Simon Diaz, one of the most beloved Latin American folk musicians.
Previously, he worked in TV programming and
acquisitions, gaining strong knowledge of media business operations and
content strategies.
Juan Andrés Bello developed a full series of
production courses for Western University (London, Ontario), including
an innovative course on Archive Images and a project focused on
experiential learning and civic engagement. He currently teaches Media
Production Foundations and Introduction to Video Theory and Production
at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS), and he was the recipient of the FIMS Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence (Limited Duties, March 2024)
Juan Andrés Bello is a member of the Documentary Organization of Canada, the North American Association of Latino Producers and the Visual Researchers’ Society of Canada.
