Julio Rocha is a Los Angeles–based documentary filmmaker and editor.

In 2024, he co-directed and produced Shade in the Sunshine State, winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary Short at the Seattle Queer Film Festival. Most recently, he earned a Best Edit nomination from the Art of Documentary’s Short Documentary Competition for Horse Language.

A graduate of Chapman University with a BFA in Broadcast Journalism and Documentary, Julio has worked as a Post Production Intern for Vox Pop Films and the Emmy® Award–winning Campfire Studios. He recently served as a Post Production Assistant on SPEAK, a feature documentary that premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. When he’s not working on his own films, Julio works as an assistant editor, supporting feature and short documentary projects.

Julio’s films explore complex, human stories that often center some of the most vulnerable members of our global community. His drive to challenge and inspire audiences is rooted in his lived experience resisting systemic barriers as a disabled Chicano and queer person. His activism shapes his empathy as a storyteller and fuels his curiosity about the nuances of the human experience.