Yvan Iturriaga is an Oakland-based writer/director who spent his childhood border-crossing throughout Latin America, living in the extended Chilean exile community. Constantly moving in the undefined space between exile and return, Yvan grew up surrounded by people with silenced, clandestine stories. His desire to make those stories known and remembered inspired him to become a filmmaker. His documentary work includes production of The Storm That Swept Mexico and of episode six of the PBS series Latino Americans, as well as co-directing A Photographer’s Journey for the PBS American Masters series. He also wrote and directed the narrative short films Sui Generis and Beep, which played in over thirty festivals worldwide. Most recently, Yvan directed seasons one and two (14 episodes) of the original series The North Pole. His narrative feature script American Babylon won a 2018 SFFILM Rainin Screenwriting Grant and a 2019 SFFILM FilmHouse residency.

American Babylon — In the months leading up to 9/11, a young Chilean exile living in Oakland grapples with the violence that drove him from his country and decides to strike back.