Javier Badillo
Producer | Director | Writer
Javier Badillo is a Leo-nominated Venezuelan-Canadian film director, writer and producer. With early careers as a punk rock musician and 2D animator, he found a natural fit as an independent filmmaker. Javier's movies have garnered awards internationally for his unique ability to explore themes of identity, and our common humanity, in entertaining underdog stories.
After a decade of making short films, Javier cowrote, directed and produced his debut feature film Roads of Ithriyah (2022), a war drama that follows a concussed Syrian militant with amnesia from the desert battlefield to the streets of Vancouver. Made over six years through crowdfunding and collaboration with Indigenous communities, and his friendship with lead actor/cowriter Shayan Bayat, DOP Jay Kamal, and producer Pantea Mosleh, Roads of Ithriyah won a 2022 Leo Award for Best Sound and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenwriting, and Best Lead Actor. It was also an official selection at the MENA Film Festival, Milton Film Festival, and the Regina International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Canadian Feature Film.
Javier's Crazy8s short drama Baba (2021) which he cowrote with director Jay Kamal and produced with Pantea Mosleh, won Best Script and Best Picture at the Vancouver Short Film Festival and the Toronto Reelworld Film Festival. It was also nominated for four Leo Awards in 2022, including Best Screenplay and Best Short Film. It was an official selection at the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival, Chicago International Children's Film Festival, 36th Edmonton International Film Festival, Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Cinéfest Sudbury, among others.
Previously, his short film Coco Blue (2018), an unflinching story of a black sex worker with musical ambitions, was nominated for Best Performance (for writer/lead actress Kendra Westwood) at the 2019 Leo Awards and won Best Performance and Best Music at the Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival. Javier received nominations for Best Director and Best Canadian Short Film at the 2019 Hollywood North Film Awards (Toronto). That same year, Javier won the Audience Choice award at the Harrogate Film Festival (UK) for his short film Fatal Rhapsody, a subversive, gender-bending hit man comedy, starring Lochlyn Munro (Riverdale, Peacemaker) and Thomas Nicholson (Yellowjackets, Legends of Tomorrow).
An active participant in his community, Javier volunteered as Programming Director for the Vancouver Short Film Festival (2011-2019), Director of Raindance Vancouver (2011-2013), and president of the Venezuelan-Canadian Society of BC (VCSBC), a non-profit that supports humanitarian efforts. Javier received the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award for his contributions to Canadian society in 2019, and was nominated for Most Inspiring Latin (Arts and Culture category) at the Latincouver Awards in 2018.
2021 Director / Co-Writer / Producer “ROADS OF ITHRIYAH” 75 min.
MENA (Middle East North Africa) Film Festival, Vancouver
Milton Film Festival, Toronto
2021 Co-Writer / Producer “BABA” Short Film (Crazy8s selection, 2021)
Vancouver Short Film Festival (*Winner Best BC Short Film, Best Script, Best lead actor)
Chicago International Children’s Film Festival
Mill Valley Film Festival
Reelworld Film Festival (*Winner Best Short Film, Best Script, Best lead actor)
Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival
Edmonton International Film Festival
2018 Director / Story Editor / Producer “COCO BLUE” Short Film, 10 min.
Leo Awards, Canada, 2019 (*Nomination for Best Performance in a Short Film)
Hollywood North Film Awards, Canada, 2019 (*8 Nom. incl Best Director, Best Canadian Short Film)
Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival, Canada, 2019 (*Winner, Best Acting and Best Music)
Toronto Black Film Festival, Canada, 2019 (*”Must Watch” Festival Short List)
Black Film Festival of New Orleans, USA, 2018
2016 Director / Story Editor / Producer “FATAL RHAPSODY” Short Film, 14 min.
National Screen Institute (NSI) Short Film Festival, Canada, 2018
Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival, Victoria, Canada, 2018
Harrogate International Film Festival, UK, 2018 (*Winner, Audience Choice Award)
Edmonton International Film Festival, Canada, 2017
Canada Shorts Film Festival, New Brunswick, 2017 (*Winner, Award of Commendation)
2013 Producer “THE COVER-UP” 74 min.
2011 Director / Producer “FAITH & CONVICTION” Short Film
PBS/Channel 13, New York, USA, 2011 (*Winner “Best Short”, public TV broadcast)
