AT A GLANCE
Esteban Alfaro
Professor
Area of Practice: Filmmaking, Audiovisual storytelling
Mentor and story editor from Argentina. Before coming to India, I lived in Prague, Czech Republic, for twelve years. There I focused on mentoring narrative film projects, working with filmmakers at various stages of their creative process: from their initial idea to screenwriting, rewriting, pre-production, and editing. These exchanges illuminate my own writing and have become an integral part of my creative practice.
EDUCATION
- Five-year Teaching Degree in Fine Arts. Further training in Animation, Creative Writing (with Alberto Laiseca), Drama (with Augusto Fernandes) in Buenos Aires and Film Direction (coursework completed in the MA programme in Directing Cinema and Digital Media at FAMU) in Prague.
WORK EXPERIENCE
From 2022 to 2025, I was the Head of Mentors for the CET Academic Programme at FAMU (Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague). I supervised and mentored over 55 short films shot on 16mm and 35mm by students from Syracuse, American University, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Kenyon College, and Yale, among others. I’ve worked as an editor and story editor on several award-winning films, including I Want to Return Return Return (Elsa Rosengren, Germany/Sweden, Cinéfondation 3rd Prize, Cannes 2020); The Fable (Raam Reddy, India, Berlinale, Encounters 2024); and Our Own Shadow (Agustina Sánchez Gavier, Argentina, Quinzaine des Cinéastes, Cannes 2024). Since 2020, I’ve been a mentor with SaraLab (named in honour of Sara Gómez), a production fund supporting Cuban women filmmakers, accompanying selected projects through their screenwriting and editing stages. I was also a managing partner of Young Film Set, a platform offering filmmaking workshops for children in Prague. Teaching has been a livelihood since my early twenties (I come from a lineage of educators —my father was a school principal— and many members of my family have been involved in teaching or educational projects). I’ve taught Fine Arts, Illustration, various aspects of Filmmaking, and even Spanish as a foreign language when I first arrived in Europe.
INTEREST AREAS
Ethical considerations in fiction writing: how different story frameworks shape perception. Cinema as a tactile experience, “Against Interpretation.” Teaching. Access to knowledge.
CURRENT PRACTICE AT SRISHTI
Facilitator: Introduction to Film Language, Writing for the Screen
TEACHING PORTFOLIO
CREATIVE PRACTICE & OUTREACH
I’ve written and directed several short films and regularly collaborate as a screenwriter, editor, and story editor. My own writing includes a short novel, currently in revision.
In an earlier stage, I worked as a children’s book illustrator. My work was once selected for the Biennial of Illustration in Bratislava.
In an earlier stage, I worked as a children’s book illustrator. My work was once selected for the Biennial of Illustration in Bratislava.
