photo of Chelsea Hernandez

Chelsea Hernandez

Producer / Director
Panda Bear Films

At the heart of Chelsea Hernandez’s storytelling are themes of community, representation and social justice. Named as one of Texas Monthly’s “Texas filmmakers poised to usher in a new Golden Age of Texas cinema” and DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40” class of 2021, Chelsea has directed and produced award-winning feature and short documentaries and produced television docuseries for El Rey Network, Paramount+ and PBS.

She is a National Emmy-nominated Director for her first feature documentary BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM (SXSW, PBS), Winner of the 2021 Silver Telly Award for Social Impact, an 8-time Lone Star Emmy Winning Director, Producer and Editor, an SFFilm Rainin Grant Recipient, Warner Media 150 Artist, Winner of the David Carr Award for Truth in Nonfiction Filmmaking, and a fellow of Firelight Media Doc Lab, Tribeca All Access, BAVC National Mediamaker, Gotham Week and NALIP Latino Media Market.

Chelsea’s second feature documentary BREAKING THE NEWS, a co-production of ITVS will premiere and stream on Independent Lens/PBS in 2024 beginning February 19th. She is currently in production on her third feature documentary which is Executive Produced by Stacey Abrams and also in production on a short documentary about a school for children asylum seekers in Matamoros, Mexico. As much as documentaries are dear to Chelsea’s heart, she is crossing over to fiction, developing several short stories and a feature anthology film with 4 Texas Latina directors. Chelsea is also a founding member of Tejanas in Film, a collective that aims to support and uplift Latina and Latinx filmmakers living and working in Texas.

Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.

Events featuring Chelsea Hernandez
Events featuring Chelsea Hernandez