Claudia Cifuentes is an American filmmaker of Guatemalan descent whose work blends sharp comedic instincts with a deeply personal, bicultural perspective. She began her career in Hollywood, working alongside industry heavyweights including director Michael Mann and producer Lynda Obst. Inspired by Mann’s auteur-driven approach, she returned to her hometown of New York to launch her own path as a writer-director.

Her directorial debut, AFTER THE WEDDING, was a micro-budget passion project funded by a $45,000 Kickstarter campaign. The film went on to screen at notable festivals such as the Bahamas International Film Festival, the Big Apple Film Festival, and the Bushwick Film Festival, and is now available on streaming platforms.

Her sophomore feature, BARILOCHE, is one of the top-rated scripts on The Black List and winner of multiple accolades, including "Best Comedy" by Outstanding Screenplays. The film is poised to break ground as the first Hollywood romantic comedy featuring an all-Latina lead cast, a Latina director, and a distinctly Latinx storyline.

Cifuentes credits her unique storytelling lens to her upbringing between Queens, New York and Miami:

“Growing up in Bay Terrace, Queens, I watched Sábado Gigante with my grandmother and Woody Allen and Amy Heckerling movies with my parents. Then we moved to Miami, and I realized just how many different cultures exist within ‘the Latino experience.’ That mix of influences shows up in everything I create.”

She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a member of Film Fatales. She lives in New York City with her husband and their two young sons.