Bio
María José Maldonado (she/they/fairy) is a queer Salvadorian-Ecuadorian filmmaker, writer and artist born and raised in Queens, NY. Her films and work celebrate the Latine/x queer and trans people in her life and the love between them. She’s 37, but looks 23.
María José’s docushort “My Fierce Aunt Bianca” screened at Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival 2023, New York Latino Film Festival 2023 and Stamped Film Festival 2023.
She also writes queer Latine speculative fiction and is working on her debut illustrated novel-in-progress ‘2126: Boys On Earth.’ In recent years, she has performed her original satirical monologue “The Big Dick” at queer bars and events. In Toronto, she began acting and secured the lead in the award-winning disco dramedy Canadian short “Saturday Fuego Diablo” (Dir. Anita Abbasi, 2022).
María José’s a proud alum of:
BRIC Documentary Intensive Film Lab 2022
Toronto Queer Film Festival (TQFF) Film Lab 2020, where she completed her first docushort “CALL 1-800-SALVI”
Lambda Literary Speculative Fiction Fellowship 2022
Sandra Cisneros’ Macondo Writers Fiction Fellowship 2021
Leslie-Lohman Museum Artist Fellowship 2020
Barbara Deming Fund 2020 feminist fiction grantee
Queer|Art Mentorship Literature Fellowship 2019 mentored by Charles Rice-González
She earned a JD/MBA from Howard University and BA in English & Creative Writing and Women’s & Gender Studies (double major) from Dartmouth College. She’s also a proud graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Horace Mann Middle School, Prep for Prep and P.S. 64Q. Previously, she was a high school counselor, then a management consultant. Full-time artist since 2019.
She’s an Aquarius Sun, Leo Rising & Aries Moon. Born Year of the Tiger.
Currently resides in Queens, NY with her husband Alejandro and cat Vinny.