Fernando Cedeño

Fernando Vicente Cedeño is born in Cantón Chone, in Manabí (Ecuador) in 1968. In 1995, he started shooting short films with some friends, with a VHS camcorder and no film ed. These shorts were about their hobbies: motorbikes and martial arts. They soon grew famous in their hometown, and Fernando jumped for the feature film: En busca del tesoro perdido (The quest for the hidden treasure) Time went by, and their productions became bolder. His plots embrace the toughest reality in Manabí province: drug cartels, mafia and murders. His popularity spread trough the country. They create their company, Sacha, meaning Jungle in the local dialect. Under this label, Fernando shots five more feature films in 23 years, while coping with the effort of living of his regular job in a country where local movies are poorly appreciated, and piracy takes a hard toll on a weak industry. Their budgets never went over 15.000 dollars, but they get to connect with the public in a way never achieved before. The book "Ecuador bajo tierra" (Ecuador underground) throws a deep analysis to the pirate distribution in Ecuador, with a full chapter about "Sicarios Manabitas" (Hitmen from Manabi) written and directed by Fernando Cedeño. It gives an appraisal of over than a million copies sold in DVD illegally. This movie was projected in the 6th Exhibition of Ecuadorean Cinema in New York in 2014. In 2015, after beeing part of more than 20 productions, and with six titles as a Director, Fernando begins his most ambitious project yet: "En busca del Tesoro de Atahualpa" (The quest for the Treasure of Atahualpa) about an expedition in the Amazonia for the biggest gold pile the man has ever seen.