Alumni Spotlight: Melina León '08
Melina León '08 is a Peruvian director based in Lima and New York. Her opera prima Canción sin Nombre premiered at Cannes Director’s Fortnight 2019 and it was nominated to the Caméra d’Or. The film has been selected to over 60 international film festivals winning several awards including the prestigious Cinevision Award for Best Emerging Director at the Munich Film Festival. Set in Peru, in 1988, the film is inspired by a true account of child trafficking originally reported by Ismael Leon, her father. An MFA Film graduate of Columbia University, her short film El Paraíso de Lili (Lili’s Paradise), also set in Peru in 1988, made its international debut at the 47th New York Film Festival.
What was your favorite or most memorable class while at the School of the Arts?
Watching Yellow Earth in the class of Chinese Cinema with Richard Peña. I think I wasn't the only one who was thinking "my life maybe just changed."
Acting a scene of Sex, Lies and Videotape for Directing Actors with June Stein. I still can’t believe it worked.
Listening to Eric Mendelsohn talk about Taxi Driver. I figured I was going to need that same level of passion to keep going in spite of all the crazy difficulties of filmmaking.
Observing Tom Kalin trash our 8-12 in a compassionate way, without losing faith and respect in any of us for one single moment.