Hola! Buenos días, buenas tardes y buenas noches! My name is Tomás Orrego, I’m a Peruvian filmmaker who has recently moved to Brooklyn, New York. I’ve been selected to take part in the UnionDocs CoLab in New York City, which I’m beyond excited about!

A bit about myself: I have been making a wide variety of films and moving image projects since 2017, starting as a self-taught animator, experimenting with video installations and then writing and directing more experimental and fiction short films. The projects I do are very much inspired by my love of cartoons, silly humor, transgressive literature, toys and the chaotic creativity children have. I have come a long way since I started making movies (believe it or not my first forays into filmmaking were silly Snapchat videos) and all the things I did in between or during (studying architecture, developing as a visual artist and screaming in a punk band) have helped me craft a personal creative approach and relationship to the medium.

Taking part in the UnionDocs CoLab is an important opportunity for me as it comes at an interesting time in my life. I’m currently in a transitional phase in my creative career, having been working solely on fiction and experimental projects as well as having recently moved to a new city. It’s the right moment to explore something new. I feel that working on fiction projects has created a distance for me as I’ve reached a creative wall. Documentary filmmaking came as a new creative alternative and for me it is the perfect way to reconnect with the human aspect of filmmaking, putting aside the abstraction fiction brings. This was the main reason I applied to the CoLab program and it is a great privilege to have been accepted to pursue this.

Participating in this program comes with a fee, which is why my goal is to raise $3200 through crowdfunding to cover the costs. Since I do lots of things, I wanted to offer some rewards for the supporters of my fundraiser. I’ve included some photos of my work, including stills from some of my films as well as examples of illustrations and storyboards I’ve done.

BIO

Tomás Orrego is a Peruvian multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker with a background in architecture, visual art, graphic design and animation currently based in Brooklyn.

His films have been screened internationally as part of various festivals including the Film-Makers’ Cooperative in New York, the Wicked Queer Film Festival in Boston, DIAMETRALE Film Festival in Belgrade, Exploding Cinema in London and have been featured in platforms such as Labocine. His film, Fever, was selected as a semi finalist in the 2024 Student Academy Awards and his 16mm film Hotwire My Heart won the won the Kostanski Award at the BizarroLand Film Festival. His work also includes directing music videos for independent artists and designing album covers and posters for Tatsuya Yoshida, Martín Escalante, Alexander Rockwell, Amat Escalante, amongst others.

He tries to be healthy by drinking lots of water and going on a daily jog. He has recently been experimenting with salads.

Filmography
Diario de una Mano | Experimental Video Essay | 2 minutes | 2025
Fever | Short Narrative Film | 10 minutes | 2024
NEVER FORGET DEATH | Experimental Comedy | 2 minutes | 2023
Tarantula | Experimental | 3 minutes | 2023
Hotwire My Heart | Experimental Comedy | 5 minutes | 2022
Maggot Death | Experimental | 2 minutes | 2022
Justine | Experimental | 36 minutes | 2019
Retengo formas de ti | Experimental | 6 minutes | 2019
La espera trae sus frutos | Experimental | 2 minutes | 2019
Las Manos Que Ríen | Experimental Animation | 15 minutes | 2018