RICARDO RIVAS
Semifinalist in Season One with his film Popurri
Ricardo Rivas was one of the 2025 finalists at the Russian Film Festival South Africa International with his experimental film Popurri. His work explores bold forms and emotional expression, pushing the boundaries of experimental filmmaking.
POPURRI
Popurri is a cinematic collage of interconnected images, moods and ideas that move like fragments through a dream. Ricardo describes it as “a big interconnected dream,” with no single storyline, allowing audiences to interpret the film through their own experiences. His work is known for layered visuals, surreal textures and emotional depth, avoiding predictable narratives and exploring the space between what is said and what is felt.
With over seven years of video editing experience and roots in Venezuela’s new wave scene, Ricardo brings a bold experimental approach to his work. His films invite viewers to look beyond conventional storytelling and find their own meaning within each image and moment.
Watch his short films on YouTube.
UPCOMING PROJECTS
Ricardo is currently finishing the edit of a new film titled Teátrica, a surreal and meta exploration of a theater troupe and its founder. The film moves back and forth between past and present, blurring the lines between performance, memory, and identity. It’s about art and the artist, frustration and legacy, and the emotions that linger when the curtain falls.
Projects in Progress
He is currently working on a long, dreamlike film set around lakes, forests and abandoned buildings.
He is also developing a short film inspired by medieval imagery. Another project is a puppet show featuring a smoking rat.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY
“I was born in Venezuela. Around 14, I started experimenting with filmmaking. In 2017, thanks to a friend, I studied cinema for a year at a small film school before it closed. I began working as an editor and wrote a lot. I’ve always wanted to be a director because I love the behind-the-scenes world, the mix of reality and fiction, the illusion of it all. Later, I moved to Argentina and began creating my own projects with everything I’d learned.”
Ricardo Rivas
VISIT RICARDO YOUTUBE PAGE