Samuel Lopez was born in El Salvador. He left with his family during the civil war of the 1980s and settled in Montreal. Samuel is a trilingual certified translator and an HIV+ AIDS activist. HIV has been a theme of interest in his work and in his life as a community activist long before he tested positive.

In 1993, Samuel made his directorial debut with the documentary Samuel & Samantha. Samuel & Samantha is an autobiographical documentary about his life as a Latino drag queen. In 1996, while at the University of Toronto, Samuel wrote the screenplay “L’Histoire d’Henri” (“Henry’s Story”). In 2008, Samuel directed and produced the short documentary “Our Faces, Our Stories” for the group Latinos Positivos (HIV+ Latinos). He has directed several short documentary videos for Latinos Positivos Toronto and the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. He recently completed the feature documentary “The Sugarcane” (2013) that will premiere at the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano in La Habana, Cuba in December 2013.

Artist Code: 797