Vanessa A. Cruz is currently pursuing her Television and Radio B.A at Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Brooklyn College with a double minor in Puerto Rican & Latino Studies and Sociology. She is an aspiring writer-director & documentarian. Her first film “The Making of a Matriarch” premiered at Paramount Global in Manhattan (August 2024) & was awarded Best Documentary Film at Reel Works Film Festival (Nov. 2024), before being recognized as a Finalist in the 2025 CUNY Film Festival, where there were over 150 entries. Most recently, Vanessa won the 2025 F. John Outcalt Award for Outstanding Filmmaking.
As a Dominican-American filmmaker, she aspires to tell dramedy, coming-of-age stories that center around Dominican culture & minority experiences. Vanessa is also interested in documenting local New Yorkers & social justice groups; she wants her work to resonate with universal human experiences but hold a special significance for those physically and culturally represented on screen.