Vanessa Cruz is a writer-director and documentarian. She is deeply committed to storytelling and social justice. Her first film, "The Making of a Matriarch," premiered at Paramount Global in Manhattan through the non-profit organization Reel Works in August 2024. In November, she later won Best Documentary Film at the Reel Works Film Festival at SVA Theatre. Vanessa, a Dominican-American filmmaker, is dedicated to screenwriting, directing, and documentary. She aspires to tell dramedy, coming-of-age stories that center around Dominican culture & minority experiences. Vanessa believes that it's not the number of stories said that matter, but who they're being told by; with that in mind, Vanessa thinks that there's love, laughter, and a sense of belonging & community that we are not currently seeing in the representation of minorities. She wants to highlight the rewards reaped from these sacrifices rather than prioritizing the struggles. However, Vanessa is also interested in documenting local New Yorkers & social justice groups. She wants her work to resonate with universal human experiences but hold a special significance for those physically and culturally represented on screen.