Florence Barillas

Florence, a student in Branford College majoring in Humanities, grew up in San Salvador, El Salvador, where she developed a deep interest in her country's history and the broader Latin American region.

In high school, she founded Agenda Gen-Z, an organization focused on educating Salvadoran youth about emerging issues. The program’s initiatives included a financial literacy program addressing Bitcoin's adoption as legal tender in El Salvador and a speaker series featuring professionals, including the Minister of Economy, to discuss the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19.

Fascinated by the complex historical, political, and cultural events that shape Latin American identity, Florence is passionate about cinema as a medium for authentically sharing these narratives. She believes film is a powerful tool to democratize storytelling and cultivate a deeper historical awareness within Latin America and beyond.

At Yale, Florence is the co-director of the Yale Student Film Festival, part of The Cinemat, and the Yale Political Union. She also works as a Spanish tutor and at the Yale Film Archive.