Escauriza’s films take inspiration from everyday life and contemplate the mundane through comedy, satire, and surrealism. Her work deals with Indigenous knowledge—specifically Guaraní epistemologies of Paraguay, where she was born—as well as colonization, immigration, and exile. She employs humor, along with absurdism and the grotesque, to “to subvert norms, challenge oppressive power dynamics, and inspire change” in films ranging from a romantic comedy set in a dispiriting work environment to an experimental documentary exploring language, cultural traditions, identity, and belonging. In addition to her Pew Fellowship, she has been awarded fellowships from the Knight Foundation’s Sundance Institute, BlackStar Film Festival, and the Flaherty Film Seminar, among others. Escauriza earned an MFA in electronic arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2006 and a BFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute.
