Rafael Flores is a bi-lingual filmmaker and musician of Mexican-Lithuanian ethnicity.  He is a first generation American citizen born to immigrant parents and has lived and studied abroad in Mexico, Spain and Canada. He was born in Seattle, but was raised all along the west coast. Growing up as a child in Southern California, he developed a tumor near his heart and had to undergo a life-saving operation at the age of six.

Flores completed his B.A. in comparative literature and cinema studies at the University of Washington.  He graduated with honors and was on the University of Washington’s Annual Dean’s list throughout his entire undergraduate career. His honor’s thesis investigated the relationship between Chicano filmmakers and Third Cinema. His areas of specialization include directing, post-production, screenwriting, documentary film production, digital music production, Chicano Cinema and Third Cinema. Mr. Flores is also a musician who has been writing lyrics and recording music since he was ten years old. The focus of much of his music and cinema centers on issues concerning hybridity, border theory, and the post-modern identities of Hip-Hop culture and the Chicano community.

In 2004 and 2005 Flores received the University of Washington’s Certificate of High Scholarship.  He also was accepted into the Golden Key and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies in 2006 and 2007.  Mr. Flores began his first year of graduate studies in 2008 while pursuing his M.F.A. in directing and post-production at San Francisco State University. In 2009 two of his films, Jale and The Scraper Bike King, were awarded honorable mention at the International San Francisco Latino Film Festival.  The Scraper Bike King was also accepted into the 2010 Cannes Independent Film Festival.

In 2009 Mr. Flores was also invited to chair the Diversity and Cultural Resistance Panel for SFSU’s 11th Annual International Film Conference. In 2010 he was awarded both the Wilbur Eugene Smith Endowed Scholarship and an Americorps Scholarship for his involvement in the national G.E.A.R. U.P. tutoring program for economically underprivileged students.

Rafael Flores is also the co-founder of Green Eyed Media, a production company based in Seattle that produces and distributes original music, documentaries and fictional narratives. In five to ten years Mr. Flores hopes to establish a community outreach program for underprivileged youth in either Seattle or Los Angeles.  This program will be sponsored by the Green Eyed Media collective and many of its members will be part of the faculty and staff.  These dedicated instructors will grant students access to academic training and technologies that will afford them a better opportunity to engage a career in film production.  Ultimately Mr. Flores hopes to establish several Green Eyed Media studios across the west coast of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

RAFAEL FLORES C.V.