Irene profile — Reel

Irene Gutiérrez-Torres
Postdoctoral researcher

Irene Gutiérrez-Torres is an award-winning documentary filmmaker from Ceuta and doctor cum laude in Media and Communication Studies from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). Her research and artistic practice focus on participatory and collaborative filmmaking around forced displacement, everyday bordering and placemaking. She previously worked as co-director of the MA in Documentary Film at the International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV), Cuba, where she studied documentary film before obtaining her MA in Spanish Film Studies. She is a member of the research groups ECHO (VUB) and TECMERIN (UC3M), and is affiliated with BIRMM, the Brussels Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Migration and Minorities. She is also assistant coordinator of the IMISCOE Standing Committe Arts, Culture and Migration (DivCult) and the YECREA representative of the ECREA Film Studies Section. Her films include Border Diaries (2013), Hotel Nueva Isla (2014), Connected Walls (2015), Exile Diaries (2019), Between Dog and Wolf (2020). She has recently produced Les Voyageurs (2025) by David Bingong. Her work has been screened at international film festivals such as the Berlinale, IDFA, BFI London International Film Festival and the IFF of Rotterdam, as well as art venues such including MoMA, Lincoln Center or the Museo Reina Sofia.

During the Reel Borders project, she was responsible for the participatory filmmaking sub-study. This involved organising, overseeing and facilitating workshops at the Irish border (Derry), the Moroccan–Spanish border (Ceuta), and the Syrian–Turkish border (Adana).

More information on publications and other projects on Researchgate, Google Scholar and Academia.