Yolanda Cruz Cruz (San Juan Quiahije, Oaxaca) is an indigenous Mexican director, screenwriter and producer. Yolanda was born in a Chatino village in the southern highlands of Oaxaca; her native language is Chatino. At the age of 16 she learned English when she immigrated to the United States where she dedicated herself to work and study.
His migratory experience has marked his way of seeing the world and his works are based on oral tradition to create cinematic narratives about art, migration and indigenous cultures. His two feature films, Hope, Soledad and La raya, are the first films produced in the Chatino region and the first in the Chatino language.
His most recent work is La raya, a comic drama produced by the Mexican Film Institute in collaboration with his community of Cieneguilla, San Juan Quiahije.
Cruz holds a master's degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and is also an alumna of the Sundance Institute.