Natalia Ortiz

Dr. Natalia Ortiz arrived in Australia in the mid-1990s. Two years after her arrival she founded the Spanish Film Festival in Australia, an event she directed for fifteen years.

In 2022, Natalia teaches Spanish language and cultural studies at UNSW. Her interdisciplinary research draws from fields in the Humanities and the Social Sciences and focuses on Spanish migration to and from Australia.

Her background as a filmmaker has led her to become increasingly interested in forms of storytelling that interrogate assumptions about identity formation, community building, and feelings of belonging. Her first short film MEMORY won best film at the Victoria Multicultural Film Festival (2019) and was screened in numerous film festival around the world. Her latest digital work Home Sweet Home contains a collection of short documentaries presenting the different layers of Spanish migration narratives in relation to isolation, identity construction, the meaning of home, the complexities of returns and remigration, and familial and generational differences.

Ortiz is also the Director and Founder of SCHAA - the Spanish Cultural Heritage Association of Australia, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes the preservation of the Spanish cultural heritage in Australia, by encouraging research, cultural events, and the social enjoyment of cultural resources. SCHAA is supported by the Ministry of Migration (Spain), and the Embassy of Spain in Canberra.

In 2009 Natalia was bestowed with the Order of Isabell the Catholic (Spain) for her outstanding contribution to the dissemination and promotion of Spanish Culture in Australia.

Filmography

	BRIDE FLIGHTS, THE (English version) » NOTE: The streaming file available on Vimeo-on-Demand through the link on this page is the English version (with English subtitles for Spanish dialogue)...
	BRIDE FLIGHTS, THE (Spanish version) » NOTE: The streaming file available on Vimeo-on-Demand through the link on this page is the Spanish version. The DVD includes both English and Spanish versions of the film...