Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza

Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza

Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza was born on October 12, 1975 in Quibdo, Choco province [Colombia]. He has 14 years of experience as a film director and producer. In 2003 he founded the company Antorcha Films, which both produces its own film projects and provides production services for film and television. He studied journalism and began his career working as a radio host. He also produced and directed TV commercials, music videos, and fiction pieces for various production houses and advertising agencies.

From 1999 and 2001, Hendrix served as manager and organizer of the CienMilímetros Film and Video Festival in the city of Cali. He directed the short film Cuando llegan los muchachos (2010), shot in Colombia’s Pacific coast region. He has produced Tricolor fútbol club (shown in Cine Colombia theaters in 2005), Fragmento fundamental (winner of the 2005 Bogota Cinematheque award in the special effects category), and Fractales 2 y 10.

In late 2006, he worked on the feature film Dog Eat Dog by Carlos Moreno. This film had its world premiere in the World Dramatic Competition section at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and became one of the most celebrated Colombian films of recent times, with invitations to more than 40 Colombian and international festivals and awards from several of them. In mid-2007, he was executive producer on Dr. Alemán, by the German production house 2Pilots, directed by Tom Schreiber in Cali.

Hendrix was production manager of Nochebuena (2008) by Camila Loboguerrero, produced by Dynamo Capital. He was also one of the producers of En coma (2011), by Juan David Restrepo and Venezuelan director Henry Rivero. He also produced Pablo Stoll’s Hiroshima; co-produced the Venezuelan film Patas arriba by Alejandro García Wiedemann, winner of Ibermedia 2009 and the Venezuelan CNAC in 2009; the Ecuadorian feature Sin otoño y sin primavera by Iván Mora, winner of the 2009 CNCE and Ibermedia 2010; produced the animated feature film Anina, winner of the Ibermedia prize in 2009 and the FDC in 2010; the feature-length documentary Los niños de Inkisi, filmed in Congo in co-production with TalaTala Producciones of Spain; and Escribana de Urabá, by Jef and Michael Zimbalist, winner of the 2010 FDC.

In 2008, his project Saudó won him a scholarship from the Carolina Foundation to participate in a script development course in Madrid. The project was also selected at the Rio Market contest in Rio de Janeiro. Saudó was awarded a production incentive from the Film Development Fund (FDC) in 2012 and is now getting ready for its release in theaters on August 4.

In 2011 he directed, wrote, and produced his feature film debut, Chocó. This film put the Colombian province of Chocó on the map for international filmgoers, when it was screened in the Panorama section of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. Chocó was also invited to open the 52nd Cartagena International Film Festival (FICCI), where it won the audience award in the official competition, and went on to tour a host of film festivals around the world.

In 2014, Hendrix was co-producer of The Confidant, which won the FDC incentive award in 2014 in the category of feature-length documentary production. His upcoming films as director and screenwriter are: Clítoris, Golondrinas, El zurdo, Tropa, and Candelaria. Candelaria won the 2015 FDC and the Churubusco Award for post-production at the Guadalajara International Film Festival. This film will be shooting in Cuba in late August of this year. Hendrix is also producing several projects that are currently in development: Yo imposible, A paso de Mangle, la niña.

For years, Hendrix’s experience has allowed him to participate in a wide array of academic and cultural activities. He has been invited to serve as a jury member in numerous Colombian and international competitions, for both private companies and government funds. In 2014, he taught a guest master class at the University of Georgia and the University of Florida. He also participated in TEDx BOGOTA with his talk “Cuando el espíritu es manada,” which grew out of the Atarraya Traveling School of Film Arts, an educational project directed by Hendrix.

In 2015, he co-founded the Manada Foundation, which along with the Atarraya Traveling School of Film Arts, seeks to provide job training opportunities to young Colombians living in the forgotten regions of Colombia, where access to formal education is limited and there are absolutely no incentives for developing artistic potential.