Shmuel Thaler, Santa Cruz Sentinel
October 25, 2023
Consuelo Alba, executive director and co-founder of the Watsonville Film Festival, is a cultural leader currently serving as the board chair of Arts Council Santa Cruz County. She is an award-winning bilingual documentary filmmaker, film producer, journalist and inaugural member of Rise Together, a coalition of BIPOC leaders working for racial equity. Under her leadership, the Watsonville Film Festival developed from a grassroots collective into a nonprofit arts organization offering year-round multimedia programming. For 11 years, Alba has led an amazing team presenting hundreds of programs, leveraging the power of film, and redefining what a film festival is and the transformative impact it can have in a community. Her work has been featured in festivals around the world and broadcast on Mexican public television. ( – Santa Cruz Sentinel)