Biography

Manuel Trotta is a Venezuelan-Argentine writer, director, and actor whose work explores intimate, character-driven stories with universal themes.

His most recent short film, La Piñata de Marcel, explores a child’s quiet confrontation with the end of childhood through an intimate 1980s coming-of-age story. The film won the Best Latinx Short Audience Award at the 49th Cleveland International Film Festival, and its screenplay was a semifinalist in both the McDonald’s Spotlight Dorado competition and Guillermo Arriaga’s Ángulo/Angular Screenwriting Lab. The film has screened at festivals including Urbanworld, Tallgrass, and LALIFF, and is currently continuing its festival run.

His previous short film, El Astronauta, is an intimate portrait of an adult who retreats into fantasy to escape emotional isolation. The film was Oscar-qualified in 2019, acquired by HBO, and received 13 awards across 31 international film festivals, including Cleveland, Edmonton, and Indy Shorts.

Trotta holds an MFA from the American Film Institute (AFI), a Directing Certificate from UCLA Extension, and a Journalism degree from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). He has also trained extensively in theater with leading instructors in Latin America.
- IMDb mini biography by: Manuel Trotta