Nathaniel Navarro, a second-year film student, is being considered for a nomination for a 2024 Short Film Competition Award in the Barrie Film Festival.
Navarro's short film Reflections was nominated in the Simcoe County Category.
“It’s basically about my life and how I felt in my first semester in college,” he said.
“This film is meant to be the basic personification of the looking glass self-theory, where you kind of put on all these different masks around certain people based off how they view you,” Navarro said.
His love of content creation began at the age of seven.
“I made YouTube videos on my little camcorder as a kid,” he said. “I used to watch all these other YouTubers, and I was just like ‘Oh, I want to be one of these guys. I want to film.'”
Navarro said he wanted to pursue film to combine his love for storytelling and content creation.
He became an assistant film director in high school alongside his film teacher.
Navarro’s biggest creative inspiration and support comes from his late grandmother.
He said he is bringing the rosary she gave him to the gala night, representing her constant presence with him, on Oct. 26 at the Galaxy Cinemas Barrie for the screenings and at The Canadian Brewhouse for the announcements of the awards.
“I would be dedicating it towards my grandmother,” he said. “My grandmother was the only one I could open up to and spend time with. Until, unfortunately, a couple years later, she passed away.”
Navarro has another upcoming project in the making, Unbroken Ties. The documentary is on systemic abuse against foster children, inspired by his personal experience in foster care.
Navarro is working towards expanding his studio, NF Productions, @nateflix_productions on Instagram.
