María Agui Carter
Filmmaker · Activist · Educator
María Agui Carter is a filmmaker, founder of Iguana Films, and Assistant Professor at Emerson College. She grew up undocumented in NYC, graduated from Harvard, and is a Professor of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College. Crafting tales of heroes and rebels from communities left out of official accounts, Maria's character-driven fiction and non-fiction films challenge assumptions about whose story counts.
A former staff producer for the flagship PBS station WGBH in Boston, she has created dozens of documentaries and series broadcast around the world and shown in film festivals.
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Her works include the hybrid non-fiction/drama feature Rebel, currently on Amazon Prime, winner of an Erik Barnouw award for best historical films in America; and the PBS broadcast & transmedia series Scigirls nominated for a 2019 daytime Emmy. She completed a new film in 2023, Rooted in Justice, for a series on BIPOC women innovators restoring the global ecosystem with Wild Elements Studio. Her new co-authored book, Collective Wisdom launched worldwide at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam, Nov. 1, 2023 from Penguin/Random House.
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Maria has a first-look deal with Concordia Studio. Her first-person documentary Birthright, exploring the racialized roots of immigration policy has gained support from Firelight Media and a National Endowment for Humanities development grant. Her script Secret Life of La Mariposa, a magical realist fable about survival and resilience explores immigration and climate change was supported by a Sundance screenwriting lab and is also in development.
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SELECTED CREDITS
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The Alleged Project – Director, Producer, Writer, Feature Documentary - In Development
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Secret Life of La Mariposa – Writer/Director – In Development
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SciGirls Latina –Director, Series Advisor | WTPT for National PBS Broadcast 2018 (30 min. 6 episodes plus Transmedia games, online videos). Daytime Emmy nomination, 2019.
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Understanding Cuba – Scriptwriter | American Museum of Natural History, NYC, Nov. 2016-2017 (10 min.)
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Voices of Dreamtown - Consulting Producer | 2016 festival release, feature film
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14 Freight Trains – Playwright | Arena Stage, opened Washington, DC, Fall 2015
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Rebel - Writer, Producer, Director | Iguana Films; PBS National broadcast 2013, (75 min. & 52 min.) Erik Barnouw Honorable Mention.
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No Job for a Woman - Producer | Hurry Up Sister Productions, PBS World Broadcast 2012, 65 min.
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Secret Soldier - Writer, Producer, Director | Iguana Films, 2012, National Parks, 20 min.
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Cleats - Writer, Director | Discovery En Espanol Films, 2008-10, 7 min.
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Unnatural Causes Series – Consulting Producer | Vital Pictures, PBS broadcast, 2009 7 part series
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Chevolution - Writer | Red Envelope Entertainment, a division of Netflix, 2008, 86 min
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College Track Series – Producer, Pilot | Roundtable Prod., National PBS, 2004, three 56 min. programs
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Rumble Over West Side Story - Writer, Producer, Director | La Plaza, WGBH, syndicated - 2001, 27 min.
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The Devil's Music - Writer, Producer, Director | National PBS, 2000, 56 min.
SELECTED AWARDS/HONORS
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Sundance Director’s Club Intensive Fellow | 2018 Spring, LA.
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MOME Fellow (Mayor’s Office for Media & Entertainment) NYC, 2016, 2017
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Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, 2015-2016 Director’s Tour of seven states screenings with REBEL.
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Cine Qua Non Screenwriting Laboratory, Mexico, 2015 Fellow
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NYSAF screenwriter’s labs, NY state – 2015 Fellow
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Sundance Intensive Latino Screenwriting Project, 2014 Fellow
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Gutsy Gals Award for best feature of the Americas – 2014 for REBEL at Berkshire Conf. of Women
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Powermeter100 – El Planeta News, One of the 100 Most Influential to Hispanics in MA, 2014
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Erik Barnouw Honorable Mention Award – 2014 Best historical film in America, Organization of American Historians for REBEL
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National Black Programming Consortium 2006 New Media Institute consulting producer
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Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS Producer's Academy 2005 fellow
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Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities 2004 & 2008 grant
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National Association of Latino Independent Producer's Academy 2003, 2006 Producer’s Lab fellow
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Massachusetts Cultural Council 2002 grant
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Writers' Guild of America, East member, 1999-present, Diversity Council, 2014-Present