May 1, 2022 The Q&A took place for the 4th edition of Cinema Femme Short Film Festival as part of our Tribute Event series.

Cinema Femme Festival Director Rebecca Martin talks to producer Liz Cardenas about her impressive career in independent cinema. Cardenas has been paving a path in the industry by supporting gems like “7 Days” and “Never Goin’ Back”.

Liz Cardenas is a multi-hyphenate filmmaker from Dallas (producer, writer, director and actress) and was  included in the 2019 LATINXT, a highly curated list of emerging Latinx creators from an initiative by Zoe Saldana,  Robert Rodriguez and Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

She’s a 2022 Independent Spirit Award winner – Best First Feature – for Duplass Brothers Productions’ 7 DAYS  (Tribeca 2021 | Cinedigm), written and directed by Roshan Sethi (The Resident, Call Jane) and starring Karan Soni  and Geraldine Viswanathan, and a 2019 Spirit Award Nominee for the John Cassavetes Award for NEVER GOIN’  BACK (Sundance 2018 | A24), directed by Augustine Frizzell (Euphoria, The Last Letter From Your Lover) starring  Maia Mitchell, Camila Morrone and Kyle Mooney. 

Other notable producing credits include A GHOST STORY (Sundance 2017 | A24), directed by David Lowery (The  Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon) starring Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck; JULES OF LIGHT & DARK, which was  directed by Daniel Laabs and was the 2019 Outfest Best US Narrative Feature winner (Wolfe Releasing);  MATERNA (Tribeca 2020 | Utopia) directed by David Gutnik, which took home Best Cinematography and Best  Actress for Assol Abdullina at Tribeca and also stars Jade Eshete, Kate Lyn Sheil, Lindsay Burdge, Rory Culkin,  Michael Chernus, Cassandra Freeman, Kara Young and Sturgill Simpson; and BURROS (Tribeca 2021) an  Indigenous short film in English, Spanish and Tohono O’odham, shot on 16mm film on the Tohono O’odham  Nation with Indigenous non-professional talent currently playing the festival circuit and receiving awards and  recognition. The films also serves as development for a feature set in the same world. 

Under her production company, Ten to the Six Pictures, she has a slate of four features in various stages of  development and production — filming in the US and abroad – one of which she’s written, and a YA TV show  she’s created inspired by her award-winning short film, IMAGO. She’s currently in post-production on a feature  she produced and shot in Spring 2021, directed by Alex Lehmann (Blue Jay, Paddleton, Meet Cute). 

She’s written and directed two award-winning short films and co-created a handful of family/children’s films,  including SAVING SLOANE, released by Lionsgate in the Fall of 2021, and the successful series, ADVENTURES OF  BAILEY. A 2018 Rotterdam Lab and 2019 & 2017 Film Independent Fellow (Fast Track | Producing Lab), she also  participated in the Producers Workshops & Network at the Marché du Film at the 2018 Festival de Cannes  through Cinemart (IFFR).  

Liz received a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from TCU and is a former reporter for The Dallas Morning News. Born  in Chicago, based in Los Angeles, she considers Texas home, where she grew up with her Hispanic father who  immigrated to the US from Mexico City and Irish-American mother from the East Coast.