2026 Princess Grace Honoraria
Nominated by: Princess Grace Award winner Rafael Samanez (Film 2018)
María del Mar Rosario Ruiz is a filmmaker from Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, navigating both narrative and nonfiction. She aims to tell feminist stories that trigger a reflection on notions of the Caribbean under a decolonial lens.
Her work has screened at IDFA, HotDocs, Tribeca, Palms Springs, SFFILM, New Orleans, Metrograph, and the French Cinematheque. With a BA in Creative Nonfiction and Film Studies from Columbia University, she later completed her postgraduate studies in Directing at the School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (EICTV).
In 2026, her narrative short Punta Salinas was Oscar Qualified and nominated for Best of New Filmmakers LA Award. Her documentary Escambrón, Playa premiered at HIFF Hawaii, and won best short at Puerto Rico Film Festival, and is currently streaming on PBS. Maria del Mar resides in Puerto Rico where she is developing Cookbook, a feature documentary that tackles autonomy, matriarchy and colonialism.
