Charles Fairbanks

Charles Fairbanks is a filmmaker, writer, Guggenheim fellow and wrestling state champion who makes artful documentaries in Mexico (where he lives) and in the USA (where he grew up). As an undergraduate at Stanford, he was teammates with Patricia Miranda, the first American woman to earn a medal in Olympic wrestling. His films have shown on POV and at Visions du Réel, Art of the Real, Oberhausen, CPH:DOX, Slamdance, RIDM, Dokufest, Punto de Vista and hundreds of festivals across six continents. His first feature The Modern Jungle was cited in REMEZCLA’s Best Latino Films of 2016, after winning Jury Prizes at Slamdance and Athens, Best Documentary at Présence Autochtone: The First Peoples Festival of Montreal. His short film Irma, a musical portrait of Mexican pro wrestler Irma Gonzalez, was awarded the SHORT:DOX prize at CPH:DOX, and the Eileen Maitland Award (best film concerning women’s experience) at Ann Arbor Film Festival, among other honors. She Wrestles is his ninth film and his second doc feature.