Javier Badillo is a Leo-nominated Venezuelan-Canadian film director, writer and producer. With early careers as a punk rock musician and 2D animator, he found a natural fit as an independent filmmaker. Javier's movies have garnered awards internationally for his unique ability to explore themes of identity, and our common humanity, in entertaining underdog stories.

In 2022, Badillo completed his feature film Roads of Ithriyah, a war drama that follows a concussed Syrian militant with amnesia from the desert battlefield to the streets of Vancouver. The film was made through crowdfunding and collaboration with Indigenous communities. Roads of Ithriyah won a Leo Award for Best Sound and was nominated for Best Director, Best Screenwriting, Best Picture, and Best Lead Actor.

Javier's short drama Baba (2021) which he co-wrote and produced, won Best Script and Best Picture at the Vancouver Short Film Festival and the Toronto Reelworld Film Festival. It was also nominated for four Leo Awards in 2022, including Best Screenplay and Best Short Film. It was an official selection at the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, 36th Edmonton International Film Festival, Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Cinéfest Sudbury, among others.

Previously, his short film Coco Blue (2018), an unflinching story of a sex worker with musical ambitions, won Best Female Lead and Best Music at the Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Performance at the 2019 Leo Awards. Javier received nominations for Best Director and Best Canadian Short Film at the 2019 Hollywood North Film Awards.

That same year, Javier won the Audience Choice award at the Harrogate Film Festival (UK) for his short film Fatal Rhapsody, a subversive, gender-bending hit man comedy, starring Lochlyn Munro (Riverdale, Peacemaker) and Thomas Nicholson (Yellowjackets, Legends of Tomorrow).

Outside of filmmaking, Javier has worked as Programming Director for the Vancouver Short Film Festival (2010-2019), Director of Raindance Vancouver (2011-2013), and as president of the Venezuelan-Canadian Society of BC (VCSBC), a non-profit that supports humanitarian efforts.

In 2019, Javier received the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award and a Nomination for Most Inspirational Latin at the Latincouver Awards.