UPCOMING/CURRENT
2024
March 19 - Co-Host -”CommUnity Circle: Reciprocity Thrift Swap & Up-Cycling Workshop” presented by 4KINSHIP x SITE Santa Fe 5:30 - 7pm at SITE Santa Fe
2023
August - featured speaker + presenting filmmaker - “Music Magic Medicine” Berlin, Germany
February 9th - Group Painting Exhibition - “Corazones Enamorados” - Monica Aboumrad Gallery (5853 Welch Ave) El Paso, TX
January 26th - Solo Painting Exhibition - “What I Lost at the Crossroads” - Aster (215 Highland St) Marfa, TX
PAST
2020 - 2021
Group Painting Exhibition - Marfa Studio Arts in Marfa, TX
Curator/gallery director at Marfa Open Arts/Art Festival in Marfa, TX
Curator - “LENGUAJE LIRICO / LYRICAL LANGUAGE” - paintings by Raciel Esperanza in Marfa, TX
Screening/Premiere Party - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Marfa Open Arts, Marfa, TX
2019
Interview - Femmecult - EMILY ESPERANZA, FILM DIRECTOR [PODCAST INTERVIEW]
Gallery Opening - 'Maiden' (2017) - Single-channel video installation - CURRENTS 826 (826 Canyon Rd) Santa Fe, NM
Screening - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Zorthian Ranch, Altadena, CA
Official Selection - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Flatland Film Festival, Lubbock, TX
Official Selection - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Women Texas Film Festival, Dallas, TX
Single-channel video installation - 'Maiden' (2017) - CURRENTS New Media Festival, El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
Screening - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - LA-BERLIN Connect x Gallery ALSO @ ACUD Kino Berlin, Germany
Official Selection - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - 26th Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL
Screening - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - University of Milwaukee @ Big Time Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Screening - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Los Angeles Premiere @ Big Time Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Official Selection - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Medusa Underground Film Festival, Las Vegas, NV
2018
Finalist - SFFILM Rainin Feature Film Screenwriting Grant - LOTERÍA
Magazine Feature - American Art Collector Magazine (July 2018)
Official Selection - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Las Vegas Queer Arts Festival, Las Vegas, NV
Official Selection - ‘Make Out Party’ (2018), ‘Massillon’, ‘The Love Story’, and Q&A with Emily Esperanza, Eve Rydberg, Molly Hewitt - 35th Annual Olympia Film Festival, Olympia, WA
Winner - ‘Make Out Party’ (2018) - Most Innovative Short Film, Award for Excellence, Jury Award - 23rd Annual TWIST Seattle Queer Film Festival, Seattle, WA
Official Selection - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Space Jam Multimedia Festival @ Cosmic Pete's, St, Parkersburg, WV
Screening - Emily Esperanza's 'Wretched Woman' (2018) - Short films in Esperanza's Wretched Woman series @ Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago , IL
Feature - Scapi Magazine - “How a DIY Queen Said Her Farewell to Chicago: A Profile of Director and Writer Emily Esperanza”
Screening - 'Massillon' - Sight Unseen presents: Chi-Bal @ The SNF Parkway Theatre, Baltimore, MD
'The Love Story' (2017) - Creatures of the Night (Shape) Shifters - @ No Nation Tangential Unspace Art Lab, Chicago IL
Official Selection - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Athens International Film and Video Festival 2018 - The Queer and Now - Athens, OH
WORLD PREMIERE - 'Make Out Party' (2018) - Co-presented by Chicago Underground Film Festival and Full Spectrum Features Hosted by VAM Studio
Screening - 'Maiden' (2017) - Women of the Now Anniversary Showcase - Sunday, March 25 @ The New 400 Theaters, Chicago, IL
Screening - 'The Love Story' (2017) - Skynema: An Intimate Film Festival - presented by Gizmodo x Skyn
2017
Official Selection - 'Maiden' (2017) - Olympia Film Festival 2017
'Hail Mary' (2017) - Nationwide Tour with Chicagoland Shorts Vol. 3 // Full Spectrum Features // touring cities/spaces include: Los Angeles, CA (Echo Park Film Center), Chicago, IL (Doc Films, Facets Cinematheque, Gallery 400 [UIC], Nightingale Cinema, Harold Washington Library) Brooklyn, NY (Spectacle Theater), Seattle, WA (Northwest Film Forum), Portland, OR (Boathouse Microcinema), Albuquerque, NM (Basement Films), Detroit, MI (The Detroit Institute of Arts), Milwaukee, WI
Movie Maker Magazine: Make Out Party: You Are Cordially Invited to Say “Fuck You” to the System
OUT Magazine: Queer DIY Film Make Out Party Is a Love Letter to Chicago's Underground
Slutist: Make Out Party: A New Queer, Campy, Sex Positive Film Is Crowdfunding
LVL3 Media: Artist Spotlight
Video Premiere - 'Hail Mary' (2017) - Chicagoland Shorts Vol. 3 - @ Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Trust Fall (group show, participating artist) - @ gallery ALSO, Los Angeles, CA
Screening Filmmaker - 'Massillon' (2016) - Short Round Cool Shit 2 - @ 4308 Burns Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029
Opening reception - Trust Fall (group show) - @ ALSO Gallery (3754 N Mission Rd, Suite B), Los Angeles, CA June 3rd - July 2nd, 2017
Keynote speaker - "Liminal Femininity: Impossible Elegance and the Femme Archetype" at University of Illinois Chicago's graduate student conference, CONVERGING NARRATIVES: BESIEGED AND TRANSGRESSIVE BODIES - @ Richard J. Daley Library at UIC
Screening Artist - Severance (2016) - I'm hurting when you're not with me - co-curated by Butoh Chicago and In/habit - an expanded performance art series - at Hume Gallery
Screening Artist - Severance - Short Round Cool Shit 1 @ Moving Arts (1822 Hyperion Ave, Los Angeles, CA)
Founder/curator: Wretched Nobles Filmmaker Fund
2016 - Filmmaker Magazine Feature: Filmmaker Magazine: "
Newcity Film 50 Feature -- Newcity Film 50: Chicago's Screen Gems
Music video premiere - Impose Magazine - "Sunburn" - DEHD (made in collaboration with Emily Kempf and Dominic Rabalais)
Screening Artist - The Dojo Presents: #SQUADFEST (1-year Anniverasry Party) @ The Dojo, Chicago, IL
Screening/Solo Show - WRETCHED WOMAN // Pig or Poet? - Short Video Works by Emily Esperanza + VHS Screening of 'SPIDER & FLY' Featurette (Seattle Premiere) @ Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA
Screening/Group Show - DOG DAYS + WRETCHED WOMAN - Short Video Works by Emily Esperanza @ ABCO Art Space, Oakland, CA
Screening/Solo Show - WRETCHED WOMAN // Pig or Poet? - Short Video Works by Emily Esperanza + VHS Screening of 'SPIDER & FLY' Featurette (NY Premiere) @ Spectacle Theatre, Brooklyn, NY
Screening Artist - 'ghosts' (02:17), 'Massillon' (02:26), 'Severance' (04:56) - Firehaus Variety Show @ Firehaus, Chicago, IL
Selected Artist - Super 8 Lives! - @ Chicago Filmmakers
Panel Speaker - Chicago's DIY Curators + Creators Live Panel - @ Future Factory
Featured Artist - The Dojo Presents: LatinX World - @ The Dojo - Chicago, IL
Podcast Interview/Feature - What about Chicago feat. Emily Esperanza
Screening Artist - 'Severance' - Dollhouse Screening Series: Queer Film Night
Podcast Interview/Feature: Dynasty Podcasts -- Chicagoverse 059 - Emily Esperanza (The Wretched Nobles of the Exiled Dynasty)
Director: Music video premiere -- BULLETT -- "Lighning & the Rain" by The Gold Web (dir. Emily Esperanza, DP - Greg Reigh)
Video Interview/Feature: #VAMCOMMUNION - Filmmakers
Production Design: Music video premiere -- BULLETT -- "Love U" by Yoko & the Oh Nos (dir. Michael Zarowny)
Live Music Video Premiere - Spaces of Disappearance - "No None" @ The Black Couch
Featured Artist - 'Living Room' - A One-night Set Installation for Dojo Media Productions Fundraiser Party
Screening/Solo Show - WRETCHED WOMAN // Pig or Poet? - Short Video Works by Emily Esperanza + VHS Screening of 'SPIDER & FLY' Featurette (Chicago Premiere) @ Comfort Station
Screening Artist - Occupy, 09:30 (2016) - Second Fridays at Black Couch: "Stacking Glass"
Screening Artist - NECESSITY/LUXARY, 22:00 - MEDIUMS @ Constellation
Screening Artist - SPIDER & FLY (excerpts) - CIMM-Fest w/Emanation and The Dojo
Curator - Sinema Obscura pt. 1 w/Odd Obsession Movies
Screening Artist - day/night, 11:51 - Dollhouse Screening: FEMALE FILMMAKERS @ The Social Club, Des Moines, IA
Screening Artist - day/night, 11:51 - Dollhouse Screening: FEMALE FILMMAKERS @ Public Space One, Iowa City, I
Screening Artist - GLORY/INFERNO, 22:29 - Dojo Media Night
Music video premiere: VAM MAG for "Soft Feeling" by Dan Rico (dir. Emily Esperanza, DP - Greg Reigh)
Screening Artist/Curator - day/night, 11:51 - 2nd Floor Rear Presents : THE WRETCHED NOBLES Film & Video Showcase @ OuterSpace studios
Screening Artist - day/night, 11:51 - Dollhouse Screening: FEMALE FILMMAKERS
2015 - Exhibition/Screening + Q&A - SEX, DEATH, & VISIONS FROM THE UNDERGROUND: The Collaborative Work of Emily Esperanza, Greg Stephen Reigh, and Abby Young - @ Chicago Filmmakers & Hokin Hall Columbia College Chicago
Cinematographer: BULLETT Magazine for "Jojo Baby" (dir. Greg Stephen Reigh) - also featured on The Huffington Post
Music video premiere: BULLETT Magazine for "The Inside Joke" by The Holy Alimonies (dir. Emily Esperanza, DP - Greg Reigh)
Music video premiere: Stereogum for "Chapels" by Crown Larks (dir. Emily Esperanza, DP - Greg Stephen Reigh)
Screening Artist - day/night, 11:51 - CUT! An Evening of Short Films - @ The Den Theatre
Screening Artist - Chapels, 05:09 - YOU CAN SEE MUSIC SOMETIMES - Video Video Screening @ Giron
Photography feature: CCLaP Weekender
Collaborator/Contributor/& Film/Video Curator - BitchFest Chicago
Screening Artist - poets in strange places - Party Film & Video - @ Little House Micro Cinema
Screening Video Artist - WULFDEN presents "FIRST TIMES FESTIVAL" @ Young Camelot
Feature & Video Interview: VAM Magazine
Panel discussion speaker: The Perils of Documentary Productions: Filming In Difficult Situations @ Chicago Filmmakers
EDUCATION/AWARDS - School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Presidential Merit Scholarship), Prague Film School, 2010 (Ralph N.J. Scholarship Grant), California College of the Arts Pre-College Program (Full scholarship to attend program & award for final film/acceptance with scholarship to attend CCA Fine Arts Program), Oakland School for the Arts, 2009 (GED), The Oxbow School, Napa, CA, 2008 (Received scholarship to attend Oxbow)
OTHER - Director, "EL CULTO DE LA MUERTE (CULT OF THE DEAD)" (in production), Director, "Spider & Fly" (2014, completed), Director & Videographer for Milk the Goat Productions & fashion label (2012, Bali, Indonesia), "Richter No. 2" - Official Selection Santa Fe 3MFF (2011), "The Dream" - Official Selection Santa Fe 3MFF (2010), Performances as Edie Sedgwick at East Bay Express/De Young Museum/Amoeba Music Warhol Factory Recreation Party (2009)
Selected Press - American Art Collector Magazine (print, July 2018), PAPER Magazine, Scapi Magazine, Filmmaker Magazine, Newcity Film, Impose Magazine (also HERE), BULLETT Magazine (also HERE), The Deli Magazine, Midwest Action, Stereogum (and HERE), CCLaP Weekender, The Chicago Reader, VAM MAG (and HERE), PERFORMER MAG, Rolling Stone, Under the Radar Mag, Rock Your Lyrics, MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG, MAXIUMUM ROCK'N'ROLL, MODERN STITCHES MAGAZINE, LOCAL LOOP, Femmecult, MILK THE GOAT, SAIC PRESS, SF GATE,