Julia Ponce Díaz is a Spanish writer/director based in Los Angeles, California. She’s a BAFTA Newcomer Fellow and a recent graduate of the American Film Institute.

Julia Ponce Díaz was born and raised in a town with six churches and no movie theater, but somehow found herself closer to film than to god. She’s currently based in Los Angeles, where she works across narrative, fashion and commercials. 

Her latest short film, Cowboy, Choker, Harness & Heart, an exploration on the limits of commitment and desire in the queer community, was selected in festivals such as GAZE International Film Festival, Vancouver Queer Film Festival, NewFest and PROOF, following its premiere at Outfest.  

Her thesis film Soredia, about a self-conscious French girl trying to find her roots in the US, had its online release through the Directors Notes platform and was acquired by the Spanish platform Filmin, after a year in a festival run that included selections at Flickers' Rhode Island, AFI Fest, Hollyshorts, and Directed by Women Spain, amongst others. 

Julia has collaborated with sustainable fashion brands such as Triarchy, LE·BOBÚ, Zeynep Arçay, Janira Gaya, and Luz Muerta in the creation of commercial and fashion films that have gotten the attention of Fashion Film Festivals around the world. Her work has been featured in publications like Vogue Spain, NON Magazine, MovieMaker and No Film School. 

Julia is currently developing her first feature, Digital Dolls, a hybrid coming-of-age film that mixes live action and animation, and is set in the rural and virtual surroundings of the early-2000s South of Spain. The script has been selected in several development programs such as ExtremLab (Festival de Cinema Independent de Barcelona L'Alternativa), Malaga Talent Campus (Festival de Malaga), El Principio del Film (Ventana Sur), and Cine Qua Non Lab. Digital Dolls is also one of the projects receiving mentorship from the Film Independent Imaginar Producers Residency (The Walt Disney Company, Searchlight & NALIP).

A recipient of the La Caixa Fellowship, Julia completed her Directing MFA at the American Film Institute. She also receives support from BAFTA US through her participation in the BAFTA Newcomers Program.

Achievements:

  • Cine Qua Non Lab // 2024

  • El Principio del Film, Ventana Sur // 2023

  • Málaga Talent Campus, Málaga Film Festival // 2023

  • Extrem Lab, L’Alternativa // 2023

  • BAFTA Newcomers Program // 2022-2026

  • La Caixa Fellowship for Graduate Studies in the US // 2019-2021

  • Carlos III University, Madrid. Academic Excellence Award // 2017-2018

  • MNE Fellowship for year-long study at Roosevelt University, Chicago // 2016-2017

  • Participant in Francis Ford Coppola’s Distant Vision Workshop at UCLA // 2016

  • MNE Fellowship for year-long study at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) // 2015-2016