Bio

NAT RUIZ TOFANO is a queer and multiracial documentary filmmaker based in Oakland, CA. They are currently working as a Producer on outreach and distribution for the feature-length documentary Elephant Path / Njaia Njoku. They have worked as an Associate Producer on numerous documentary projects that have aired on PBS, WORLD Channel, Al Jazeera English, History Channel, CCTV-9, and CuriosityStream. They most recently worked as an Associate Producer for the curated documentary series America ReFramed on the WORLD Channel. Nat has also directed short documentaries of their own including Giving Voice (2014) and The Edges of Healthcare (2014). They are committed to lifting up stories of POC and LGBTQ+ communities, and approaching filmmaking as a collaborative process. Nat holds a MFA in Social Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts, and a BA in Urban Studies from Stanford University.

Nat is a 2019-2020 Re-Take Oakland Filmmaker, which is a two-year public education and filmmaker mentoring program. They are currently a pre-screener for the PBS documentary series POV, and served on a screening committee for Frameline43 - San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival. Additionally, they were in the 2009 cohort of the QWOCMAP Filmmaker Training Program.

Nat is an active member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, A-Doc (Asian American Documentary Network), and the D-Word.

In addition to their career in documentary film, Nat has six years of experience in grassroots nonprofit management and program development, and was a Founding Member of Bay Area Girls Rock Camp.