Enrique Pedraza-Botero Named Director of Documentary and Visual Storytelling

Enrique Pedraza-Botero has been named Director of Documentary and Visual Storytelling at the Shorenstein Center. In this position, Enrique will lead the Documentary Film in the Public Interest initiative and engage in interdisciplinary work on the role of visual storytelling in the information environment, under the guidance of Faculty Director Nancy Gibbs. He succeeds the inaugural Director Sara Archambault, who will continue with the program as Research Consultant.

As people increasingly turn to visual media to help understand the world around them, the medium itself – the way it is produced, funded, distributed, and consumed – is continuously evolving. These changes are reconceptualizing documentary and creating more fluid boundaries between filmmakers, journalists, and creators. As part of the Shorenstein Center’s research into how people seek and consume information, we are expanding our interdisciplinary work on the future of documentary and visual storytelling to better understand and support its role in building healthier, more resilient societies.

Enrique Pedraza-Botero has served as Program Manager of the Documentary Film in the Public Interest initiative since 2023, and more recently as Interim Director. He is a visual artist, filmmaker and media executive from Bogotá, Colombia. In 2025, he was named one of Vimeo’s Breakout Creators. His films include Alpha Kings, which premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2023 and received the Grand Jury Prize for Social Commentary at AFI Fest. It was distributed globally by The New Yorker. Earlier this year, his film, No se ve desde acá (You Can’t See It From Here) premiered nationally on PBS and Reel South. Before joining the Shorenstein Center, Enrique spent six years at the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program, where he led Creative Labs, directed the program’s international strategy, and contributed to awarding $2 million annually in unrestricted grants supporting documentary filmmakers around the world. Earlier, he served as Director of Programming for the California edition of Ambulante Documentary Film Festival.

Enrique succeeds Sara Archambault, who served as the inaugural director of the Documentary Film in the Public Interest Initiative at the Shorenstein Center since its launch in 2023. A leading filmmaker, convener, and thinker in the field, Sara has been integral in setting the course for the initiative and bringing it to life, building a powerful program of fellows, research outputs, and convenings that has brought new energy and understanding to the study of nonfiction film and visual storytelling in the information ecosystem. In her consultant position with the program, Sara will contribute to research on documentary and visual storytelling in platform-driven ecosystems.

“I am grateful for Sara’s vision, expertise, and drive to build this initiative at the Shorenstein Center into a leading hub for research and a valued convener of the field.” says Faculty Director and Principal Investigator Nancy Gibbs.  “I’m excited to see how Enrique continues to evolve this work, including through the upcoming Doc Ideas symposium on the future of public media, and growing research on documentary media on digital platforms. In the coming months, we will be exploring new ways to further integrate this research into the center’s expanding initiatives to understand the breadth of the information ecosystem and the critical role of independent media in democracy.”