I am a Storyteller.
Michelle Falcón Fontánez is an award winning storyteller working in photography, film, theater and installation art. Michelle has witnessed and personally experienced injustices that have shaped her views of the world, motivating her pursuit of making change through art. Her artistry has primarily focused on social issues, where she has created work to illuminate voices that have not been heard.
Michelle's early work consists of solo producing a women's focused documentary on the impacts of the economic crisis of Puerto Rico before Hurricane María. My latest short film tells the story of "María", a young Latina protagonist whose path to becoming a civil rights lawyer is complicated by an unplanned pregnancy. María will premiered at Boston International Film Festival, Golden Door International Film Festival, and the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival.
Michelle has recently served as the cinematographer in a short documentary featuring the Cuban soccer community in Miami and a documentary about Afghan refugees who relocated to a small town in Massachusetts. Currently, Michelle is working with on a three part mini-series that unpacks the psychological and environmental impacts on Puerto Ricans in South Holyoke, (an underserved community in Holyoke, MA), during the 1970s fires.
Michelle’s projects have received support from the Studios at MASS MoCA’s 2022 Massachusetts Fellowship Residency, the New England Foundation for the Arts' Public Art for Spatial Justice Program, with funding from The Barr Foundation, LEF Moving Image Fund, ValleyCreates Artists: Project Evolution 2022, SPark! Igniting Our Community Public Art in Pynchon Plaza, El Corazón/The Heart of Holyoke, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the City of Boston, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, 2020 ValleyCreates Rapid Response, Art Workspace Easthampton (AWE) Studio Residency Program, ECA Artist Grants Initiative, The Ethics and the Common Good Project, CBD Project Grant, The Sander Thoenes Research Award, Elma Lewis Community-Centered Grant, New England Film Star Finalist, Cambridge, Holyoke, Springfield, Northampton and South Hadley Cultural Councils. Michelle holds a MFA in Film and Media Art from Emerson College and a Bachelor’s Degree from Hampshire College with concentrations in Business Management and Film.