Ika Santamaria writes, produces, directs, and edits her own material. She teaches undergraduate and masters courses at New York Film Academy South Beach and at the Center of Cinematography, Arts and Television en Miami.

As Filmmaker/Director and actor she has received awards given by the Women’s International Film Festival, LDUB Film Festival, Miami Life Awards; Ika recently won a competition at the Sundance Screenwriters Intensive, Miami 2015. She received the Achievement Award for Best Film Director at the Women in The Arts 2013 & was named the WITA 2013 Filmmaker of the Year as well. Awarded Best Actor at Miami Indie Film Club and Ika wrote, directed, and edited “Flea Market Finish Line” which was accepted at the Cannes Film Festival and won awards in many International Film Festivals.

More About Ika Santamaria:

With my father I got a deep curiosity about unveiling characters and stories. He is a stonemason, who is very serious about carving words into marble monuments that sum up a person’s life. Our family has a monument business in Colombia, I remember being five years old and getting trained by Dad in the art of selling headstones. He discovered that the strategy was to get the bereaved to remember the most sensitive memory of their lost one. Dad showed me how to grow different feelings and atmospheres at the shop. He taught me to listen with my heart and truly engage with our customers. Soon I was able to come up with the questions that would bring out that special story that defined the dead person.

Experiencing life and death so close made me value our lifetime on earth. Today, “to be alive” is central to my stories.

I decided that the theater was the place where I wanted to be, so I formally studied Dramatic Arts at the renowned Teatro Libre in Bogota.

I moved to New York to study film at the Tisch School of art at NYU. In 1999 I came to Miami where I worked in TV / film production and international distribution.