Jhonny Sánchez Obando
Jhonny Sánchez Obando
Filmmaker | Writer | Actor | Cultural Advocate
Filmmaker | Writer | Actor | Cultural Advocate
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Jhonny Sánchez Obando is an Ecuadorian–American film director, actor, writer, and cultural advocate. He holds a Master’s degree in Screenwriting and Literature, a Bachelor’s degree in Social Communication, and is trained as a filmmaker. His work explores Afro-descendant, Andean, and queer identities from an intimate, political, and poetic perspective.
He has directed five feature films, and his work has been presented at festivals such as Cannes, West Hollywood, Cartagena, Marbella, Miami, and Baños de Agua Santa, among others. His projects have been recognized in film funds and showcases for their strong authorial vision.
He is the founder of the Guayaquil International Film Festival and currently serves as CEO of Vórtice Artístico Marañón, an artistic vortex that integrates film, literature, music, and the body as territories of creation, production, and distribution.
Alongside his work in cinema, he is also a poet. He is the author of two poetry collections: Cancionero (2025), available through Amazon Books and Barnes & Noble, and El tiempo, a veces, selva adentro (2025), published as an Amazon Kindle eBook. His writing has also appeared in several literary anthologies, including Palabras Poéticas (ITA Editorial, Colombia, 2021, Algún día abarazarás estos escritos), Voy a nadar (Santa Rabia Poetry, Peru, 2025), and La tinta y el abismo (Etérea Editorial, Colombia, 2026), featuring his poetic prose piece La nada.
He is currently in pre-production of his short film Leviathan, based on true events and winner of the Peregrinos de Emaus Fund – Hollywood Incubator 2025 and developing Roots, a poetic/performative documentary about his lineage.
FILMMAKING
FILMMAKING
Explore his full filmography and dive into his world of cinema.
LITERATURE
LITERATURE
Poetry is essential to his universe—discover more about his literary journey.
ACTING CAREER
Outside of his career in film directing, Sánchez Obando has embodied a range of characters and received invitations to collaborate in the art of performance, which represent a vital link in his artistic process. Within this field, he also works as a casting director and acting coach, drawing on his extensive background and training.
NICE GUY JULIO (2024)
Nice guy Julio represents his latest feature film currently in production. It premiered in 2017, went on a hiatus, and resumed its visibility activities in 2024. It was awarded Best Ecuadorian Feature at the Baños de Agua Santa International Film Festival and was screened at FICAH in Mexico.
The film tells the story of Julio, who calls himself Guru, and who seeks to save all the people struggling with depression in Guayaquil—without knowing what will happen to them on April 16, 2026, the same day a major earthquake shakes the country.
SOCIAL MEDIA
SOCIAL MEDIA
FIND OUT MORE!
FIND OUT MORE!
BLOGGER
BLOGGER
Read more!
PARADA 9
PARADA 9
Poetry/Music | IA Demos
GIFF
GIFF
Guayaquil Int'l Film Festival
THE LEVIATHAN
THE LEVIATHAN
In pre production
LOGUNEDE ON FIRE
LOGUNEDE ON FIRE
Transmedia project. Get involve!
KASHU
KASHU
Artistic Vortex
EIGHT ELEVEN (2026)
(Ocho Once) Eight Eleven is a passage through rubble and luminance, through the deep and the trivial. It is spirit and soul, a body stretched and folded; it is to hallucinate, to get lost, and to return. It moves through sacred numerology and the pulse of astrology: a path of reunion —yes, reunion. The book is divided into eight chapters, each containing eleven poems shaped by encounter, pain, falling in love, relapse, beginning again, loving anew, and letting go. It is dedicated to a very special being with whom we came to remember.
Its premiere is scheduled for August 12, 2026.
ROOTS (2030)
As his family disperses across the world, an Afro-Ecuadorian filmmaker returns to the roots of his lineage to reconstruct his grandparents’ memory and discover what remains of us when our homeland is left behind.
Director: Jhonny Sánchez Obando. Producer: Cheo Poggy. Countries: Ecuador/Colombia/United States. Running time: 80 Minutes. Status: In Develop. Official Selection: Filma Afro/Cine en Las Aldeas: Cartagena International Film Festival, 2026. Colombia.
AMERICAN DREAM (2028)
American Dream is a project co-directed and co-produced by Jhonny Sánchez Obando, in which he also plays a role. Currently in post-production in Ecuador, the film is expected to be released on streaming platforms in 2026.
The project first entered Guayaquil Lab in 2016, received script doctoring by Santiago Molina, with a screenplay by Raúl Zambrano, and direction by Cheo Poggy. It portrays the journeys of a group of migrants attempting to reach the United States illegally.
BLIND JUSTICE (2029)
At the request of Colombian activist Mercedes Christian (R.I.P.), this project was born to address a social reality that affected a family in the United States. Christian approached Pachamama with the intention of bringing her project to life, and with the support of Sánchez Obando, Marañón, and the FestiCineGye Foundation, the re-edited version of this film will be available in 2027, in honor of the great Mercedes and her lifelong struggle for social ideals.
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