Founders

Sara Pujalte

Producer, Programmer and Office Manager

I feel privileged to be a part of the Sahrawi people’s cause; to struggle at their side means learning something new every day about life, justice and universal values. The entire world is in debt with Western Sahara. This debt has become mine, and so I will never cease to work for a free Western Sahara.

Sara, a longtime events producer, handles NomadsHRC’s day-to-day office management and also works on project design and production. In coordination with Sahrawi partners, Sara identifies local needs, designs projects, handles project logistics and budgets and works on evaluation and final reporting. She also trains local partners in project management, reporting and evaluation. Sara supports the distribution of Western Sahara-themed films and the organization of international screenings and events.

As FiSahara’s international co-producer and programmer, Sara has coordinated the logistics of the festival with Sahrawi partners since its founding in 2003 and contributed to the founding of the Abidin Kaid Saleh Audiovisual School, which opened in 2011 in the Sahrawi refugee camps. She has been a part of the Western Sahara solidarity movement for over 25 years. Sara has 30 years of professional experience in cultural management including theatre, cinema, circus and music festivals, as well as in cinema production. Sara is a Sound and Image Technician and specialized in production at the Madrid Center for the Study of Video. In addition, Sara is a specialist in nutrition and dietetics and was trained by the NGO Action against Hunger on Nutrition and Humanitarian Aid.

Mayka Guerao

Producer, Programmer and Coordinator of Communications and Design

I am deeply committed to make our world a more just place where the rights of all humans are defended and protected

Mayka is a longtime festival and film producer who works on project design and production at NomadsHRC. In addition, Mayka manages the organization’s social media and design, and supports programming and distribution of Western Sahara-themed films.

As FiSahara’s international co-producer and programmer, as well as coordinator of the international team since 2008, Mayka works closely with Sahrawi cultural workers to problem-solve in one of the world’s most challenging environments: the Sahrawi refugee camps in the heart of the Sahara Desert.

Mayka was also a producer for the solidarity circus group Festiclown Palestine, held in the West Bank, as well as for several film and theater festivals in Spain, including the Iberoamerican Film Festival in Huelva and Autumn Theatre Festival in Madrid.  Mayka graduated in Audiovisual Communications from the European University of Madrid. She was communications associate at Nirvana Films, a Madrid-based independent distributor.

María Carrión

Organizational Development, Project Design, International Outreach and Human Rights Research

“As a European citizen whose society benefits from a post-colonial, neo-liberal global economic model that chooses financial gain and inequality over human rights and justice, it is my responsibility to use my position of privilege and access to power to fight for the rights of our oppressed sisters and brothers.”

María, a journalist, human rights activist and cultural practitioner, works on project funding and development for NomadsHRC as well as on international networking and human rights projects. She has been Executive Director of FiSahara since 2013. During her tenure, FiSahara has grown into an internationally recognized human rights film festival, drawing filmmakers, activists and media from all over the world.

In 2013 FiSahara joined the Human Rights Film Network, a coalition of over 40 human rights film festivals whose board María currently sits on. She co-edited and wrote several chapters in the Network’s second edition of a handbook on how to organize human rights film festivals. With the WITNESS Media Lab, María co-founded Watching Western Sahara, a human rights media project that supports at-risks media activists from the occupied Western Sahara through media trainings, human rights reporting and the curation and distribution of eyewitness videos filmed inside the territory. María has travelled widely in representation of FiSahara and NomadsHRC.

Prior to working at FiSahara María was Senior Producer at the New York City-based news program Democracy Now! As a freelance journalist her work has been featured in The Progressive, Television Española, the BBC and other media outlets. María was communications advisor in the United States to Amnesty International’s Secretary General and AIUSA’s Southern Regional Office on issues including the death penalty, racism in the Americas and migrant detention. María has also worked on award-winning human rights documentaries, including Javier Corcuera’s The Back of the World and Pamela Yates’ Granito: How to Nail a Dictator.

COLLABORATORS

NomadsHRC is much more than a threesome. So many people support the work we do, help us make it happen and put their trust in us. We feel fortunate to have have a rich, vibrant community by our side daily to develop new ideas, carry out projects and face challenges. Without you, none of this would be possible — and for this, we are truly thankful.