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 brands such as Govee, Triarchy, Zeynep Arçay, LE·BOBÚ, Janira Gaya, and Luz Muerta in the creation of commercials 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 in pre-production for her next short film, Plastic Utensils, a US/Spain co-production which was both a recipient of the Comunidad de Madrid Production Grant for Short Film Projects, and a Semi-Finalist of the Shore Scripts Short Film Fund.

She continues to develop 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), Cine Qua Non Lab, and Atlántida Mallorca Talents Lab. Digital Dolls also received mentorship as part of the inaugural Film Independent Imaginar Producers Residency (The Walt Disney Company, Searchlight & NALIP). Earlier this year, the project was awarded the highly competitive Junta de Andalucía Development Grant for Feature Film Projects.

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:

  • Production Grant for Short Film Projects, Comunidad de Madrid (2026)

  • Development Grant for Feature Film Projects, Junta de Andalucía (2026)

  • Atlántida Mallorca Talents Lab, Atlántida Mallorca Film Festival (2026)

  • 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-Present)

  • 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)

  • Francis Ford Coppola’s Distant Vision Workshop, UCLA (2016)

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