Rafael Palacio Illingworth

Born in Mexico City in 1978, Rafael grew up between Mexico and Colombia. He worked as a writer for national radio shows before switching to film. He earned a bachelor in Visual Communications from Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Mexico CIty. His thesis film, EL MAGO, won the Houston WorldFest Platinum Remi award. In 2006, his short film LA SANTA took the Grand Jury Prize at the Malayerba film festival in Acapulco. Rafael is currently a fellow at the American Film Institute Conservatory where he has been awarded the Daniel Petrie Scholarship and the Filmanthropy Fundation scholarship. After his first year at AFI he directed his first feature film MACHO. During his time at the AFI he also wrote and directed three short films and his thesis GUERRILLA GARDEN.