MEET FILMMAKER RICARDO RIVAS

We’re proud to spotlight one of our 2025 finalists, Ricardo Rivas, an experimental filmmaker whose work pushes boundaries of form and feeling. Ricardo Rivas was one of our finalists at this year’s Russian Film Festival South Africa International with his film Popurri.

Popurri

Popurri is best described as a cinematic collage, a series of interconnected images, moods, and ideas that drift like fragments through a dream. Ricardo calls it “a big interconnected dream, like the fragments of a world existing in a big empty void.” There is no single storyline. Instead, Popurri invites viewers to reflect, feel, and question. It is an emotional space rather than a narrative one, where the audience is free to interpret each moment through their own experience.

MEET FILMMAKER RICARDO RIVAS


Director Biography



“I was born in Venezuela. Around 14, I started experimenting with filmmaking. In 2017, thanks to a friend, I studied cinema for a year at a small film school before it closed. I began working as an editor and wrote a lot. I’ve always wanted to be a director because I love the behind-the-scenes world, the mix of reality and fiction, the illusion of it all. Later, I moved to Argentina and began creating my own projects with everything I’d learned.”

Current and Upcoming Projects

Ricardo is currently finishing the edit of a new film titled Teátrica, a surreal and meta exploration of a theater troupe and its founder. The film moves back and forth between past and present, blurring the lines between performance, memory, and identity. It’s about art and the artist, frustration and legacy, and the emotions that linger when the curtain falls.

MEET FILMMAKER RICARDO RIVAS
MEET FILMMAKER RICARDO RIVAS

Projects in Progress

  • A long, dreamlike journey through natural landscapes of lakes, forests, and abandoned buildings
  • A short film inspired by medieval images
  • A puppet show featuring a smoking rat
  • Other scripts exploring themes like violence, pregnancy, summer, and loneliness

Ricardo Rivas in Focus


Ricardo’s work is known for its layered visuals, surreal textures, and deep emotional resonance. His stories avoid predictable paths, inviting viewers to explore the subtle space between what is said and what is felt. With over seven years of video editing experience and roots in Venezuela’s new wave scene, he brings a bold, experimental edge to every project.
Watch his short films on YouTube