UNCENSORED
NARCO JOURNALISM
A FILM BY STEPHANIE CATALINA MARTINEZ
| STEPHANIE MARTINEZ
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
Steph Martinez is a multimedia and television journalist, winner of several Emmy Awards and the prestigious Golden Mike Award for journalistic excellence in California. With over 15 years of experience, she has reported from some of the most significant stages in the news world, covering the Academy Awards, reporting on key U.S. elections, and documenting human stories that cross borders.​
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Her career spans the leading Spanish-language networks in the United States. She has worked as a reporter for Univision in Los Angeles and Telemundo in Washington, DC, and also served as a news anchor for Univision in North Carolina. From 2019 to 2025, she was part of the Voice of America team, where she combined rigorous journalism with compelling visual storytelling for global audiences.
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Today, Steph works as an independent journalist, developing original digital projects and producing documentaries that explore new ways of telling stories and connecting with audiences worldwide.
| MAURA UGARTE
CO-PRODUCER/ EDITOR
Maura Ugarte is a filmmaker, editor, producer and teacher based in Washington DC. Maura’s work is focused on community building and how media can be used to bridge economic, racial and cultural divides. Her documentary projects have been screened nationally and internationally; highlights include screenings at the True/False Film Festival, Palm Springs International and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions gallery. She has produced commissioned work for CurrentTV, and recently won a CINE Golden Eagle Award for her documentary, Through Fire and Water, on a severely injured Iraq War veteran and his experiences after returning home. Maura has an MFA degree in Film and Media Arts from American University, and a BA from Columbia.
| HELKIN RENE DIAZ
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Helkin is a photojournalist and cinematographer based in Bogotá, Colombia. In 2008 he filmed the documentary The Crown, which was nominated to the Academy Awards and received honorable mention at the Sundance Film Festival 2008. His work The Last Gamblers was nominated to the FNPI (Fundacion nuevo periodismo iberoamericano) prize in photography on July 2010. He was also worked the camera for the environmental documentary Jala- A Journey Through the Senses of Water, a film about the Ganges river. Shot on the RED system.
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