Work samples
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The Bel Loc Diner TrailerThis is a black & white, cinema verite piece showing the Bel Loc Diner in all of its glory. It is an impressionionistic depiction of daily life. It premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in LA and the Anthology Film Archives in NYC. It has screened nationally and internationally. It was awarded Best Cinematography for Short Doc with Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Madrid & the Silver State Film Festival. In March 2022, it was nominated for Best Short Doc with the Swedish Int'l Film Festival.
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Jaime & the Tamales - TrailerThis is a 16 mm, black & white, cinema verite film depicting Jaime selling his tamales on a sunny day in Baltimore. It premiered in LA with the Silicon Beach Film Festival in April 2018 where it won Best Cinematography for Short Doc and in NY at the Anthology Film Archives. It has screened nationally and internationally. It made its world premiere with the L'Age d'Or Int'l Arthouse Film Festival in Kolkata, India where it won Best Women's Film. In 2022, it won Best Short Documentary with the New Jersey Film Awards and screened in Lisbon with the Lisbon Film Rendevous. In It has also screened with the Silver State Film Festival, Experiments in Cinema, and the Fisura Int'l Experimental Film & Video Festival in Mexico City.
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Porkchop & the 28th St North Carolina Watermelons - TrailerThis is a 16 mm, black & white, cinema verite piece showing Porkchop selling his watermelons on a hot summer day in Baltimore. It premiered in LA September 2018 with the Golden State Film Festival and in NY with the Bushwick Film Festival in October 2017. It won the Audience Award for Short Documentary with Silicon Beach Miami Film Festival and the Special Jury Award with the Southern Colorado Film Festival. It has also screened with the Short to the Point Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania, Experiments in Cinema, and Los Angeles Cinefest. A 1 min clip appeared on the LED Billboard with Artscape in 2015.
About Raissa
Baltimore City

Raissa Contreras is an artist, filmmaker, and educator in Baltimore City. She has an MA in Film & Video from MICA and an MFA in Painting from the University of New Mexico. Her teaching and work are inter or multi-disciplinary and she has exhibited nationally and internationally. She was a 2019 recipient of a Maryland State Arts Grant for Media Arts.
Four of her films have premiered in LA since 2018 and have won numerous awards. Her most recent film, The Bel Loc… more
Four of her films have premiered in LA since 2018 and have won numerous awards. Her most recent film, The Bel Loc… more
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The Bel Loc Diner
This is a black & white, cinema verite piece showing the Bel Loc Diner in all of its glory. It is an impressionionistic depiction of daily life. It premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in LA and the Anthology Film Archives in NYC. It was awarded Best Cinematography for Short Doc with FICIMAD and the Silver State Film Festival in Las Vegas. In March 2022, it was nominated for Best Short Doc with the Swedish Int'l Film Festival. In 2020, it screened with the Hell's Kitchen NYC Fest at the Producer's Club, the Reykjavik Int'l Film Festival and with the Miami Int'l Film Festival.
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The Bel Loc Diner TrailerThis is a black & white, cinema verite piece showing the Bel Loc Diner in all of its glory. It is an impressionionistic depiction of daily life. It premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in LA and the Anthology Film Archives in NYC. It has screened nationally and internationally. It was awarded Best Cinematography for Short Doc with Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Madrid & the Silver State Film Festival. In March 2022, it was nominated for Best Short Doc with the Swedish Int'l Film Festival.
Jaime & the Tamales
Jaime & the Tamales is a 16 mm, black & white, cinema verite short depicting Jaime selling his tamales on a sunny day in Baltimore. It is imagistic & painterly, informed by my background in painting. It premiered in LA with the Silicon Beach Film Festival in April 2018 where it won Best Cinematography for Short Documentary and in NY with NewFilmmakers NY at the Anthology Film Archives. It made its world premiere May 2019 with the L'Age d'Or International Arthouse Film Festival in Kolkata, India, where it won Best Women's Film. In 2022, it was awarded Best Short Doc with the New Jersey Film Awards and screened in Lisbon with the Lisbon Film Rendevous. It has also screened with the Silver State Film Festival, Experiments in Cinema in New Mexico and the Fisura Int'l Experimental Film & Video Festival in Mexico City.
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Jaime & the Tamales - TrailerThis is a 16 mm, black & white, cinema verite film depicting Jaime selling his tamales on a sunny day in Baltimore. It premiered in LA with the Silicon Beach Film Festival in April 2018 where it won Best Cinematography for Short Doc and in NY at the Anthology Film Archives. It has screened nationally and internationally. It made its world premiere with the L'Age d'Or Int'l Arthouse Film Festival in Kolkata, India where it won Best Women's Film. In 2022, it won Best Short Documentary with the New Jersey Film Awards and screened in Lisbon with the Lisbon Film Rendevous. In It has also screened with the Silver State Film Festival, Experiments in Cinema, and the Fisura Int'l Experimental Film & Video Festival in Mexico City.
Porkchop & the 28th St North Carolina Watermelons
This is a 16 mm, black & white, cinema verite piece showing Porkchop selling his watermelons on a summer day in Baltimore. It is informed by street photography and the dreamlike elements of painting. It premiered in LA with the Golden State Film Festival and in NY with the Bushwick Film Festival. It screeened with the Silicon Beach Miami Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Short Doc and with the Southern Colorado Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Award. It has also shown with the Short to the Point Film Festival in Bucharest, Romania, Experiments in Cinema and the Los Angeles Cinefest. It rec'd Honorable Mention with the LA Underground Film Festival.
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Porkchop & the 28th St North Carolina Watermelons - TrailerThis is a 16 mm, black & white, cinema verite piece showing Porkchop selling his watermelons on a hot summer day in Baltimore. It premiered in LA September 2018 with the Golden State Film Festival and in NY with the Bushwick Film Festival in October 2017. It won the Audience Award for Short Documentary with Silicon Beach Miami Film Festival and the Special Jury Award with the Southern Colorado Film Festival. It has also screened with the Short to the Point Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania, Experiments in Cinema, and Los Angeles Cinefest. A 1 min clip appeared on the LED Billboard with Artscape in 2015.
Street Photography
This is digtial street photography. It has exhibited with the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, the Mobile Photography Awards and the West Gallery in Baltimore.
Christmas Retrospective 2018
This work was originally set in San Ysidro Church, an adobe church, in Corrales, NM. I was inspired by the church decorating periods throughout history and the work of Tiepolo in particular, who I researched in travels through Italy. I decorated the entire church as I reinterpreted the Madonna & Child imagery. My ever present symbol, the chicken, acts as messenger, harbinger, visitor. Chickens assist in escorting the Madonna to heaven in my Assumption based on a vision I had in NM. I had been unable to show this body of work since that installation for lack of a proper space. When the West Gallery opened, I had the space to resurrect a good portion it and give a sense of the whole. The work reflects ideas surrounding Christmas so a show this time of year created nice symmetry. I include two shots from the original installation in these examples.
LED Billboard 2015
This work appeared on the LED Billboard in Baltimore. Chickens are not only beautiful but symbolic.
A Great Day in Charm City
This is a 16 mm, black & white, cinema verite piece showing two of Baltimore's vanishing traditions. They represent times when magic enters the everyday. It is currently available on Amazon Prime. It screened in LA with the Marina Del Ray Film Festival in 2018 & in NY at the Anthology Film Archives. It has also screened with the Puerto Madero Film Festival, Argentina, The Cutting Room, Nottingham, UK and Experiments in Cinema. It was included in the Very Best of Experiments in Cinema Anthology.
Sketchbook Project
This is work I did in conjunction with the Sketchbook Project and the Brooklyn Art Library. I did 3 sketchbooks between 2011 and 2012 which traveled with the Sketchbook Project and were exhibited nationally and internationally. I was inspired by Easter, as some of the sketches were done in the spring, the circus and walks with my dog.
Spring Roll - Animation Stills
This hand drawn animated piece combines my interest in painting and drawing with film. In it, a chicken encounters a Chinese Dragon. I was inspired by my experience with a Chinese New Year celebration. These are 10 stills from that piece in 2008.