Our Story

Malinalli López Arreguín is an award winning film producer, an accomplished entrepreneur, scholar, educator and poet. She launched Xochiquetzal Media (XQL Media) in 2015 out of a deep passion for storytelling and with a vision to amplify the authentic voices of Indigenous, Chicana/Chicano, Mexican and Latinx persons. The seed for this visionary production company was planted years earlier during a transformative class at UC Berkeley led by the legendary Luis Valdez, the father of Chicano theater and film. Inspired by Valdez’s teachings and the encouragement of his niece Xochiquetzal, a fellow class participant, Malinalli was encouraged to turn her evocative poetry into cinematic narratives. This pivotal moment ignited her journey into filmmaking and the name Xochiquetzal honors the Nahua Goddess of the Arts.

 

A couple of years later, while studying under the acclaimed Chicana filmmaker Lourdes Portillo, Malinalli’s vision crystallized. Using Portillo’s exemplary teaching, she embraced the power of film as a medium for cultural impact and social change. By combining her poetic sensibility with her dedication to cutting-edge storytelling, Malinalli launched XQL Media to create compelling films and documentaries that celebrate resilience, beauty and authenticity. She is curently working on writing a new book, Embodied Visions with a lens of honoring Indigenous aesthetics in Mexican and Latinx filmmaking.

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She holds a BA In Chicano Studies from UC Berkeley, an MFA in Directing in Motion Pictures and Television from the Academy of Art University, San Franisco and a Certificate in Women's Entrepreneurship from Cornell University.

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