A brave and unflinching look into the face of modern-day puberty, Going on 13 follows four urban girls of color over the span of four years.
Dawn Valadez is a second-generation Xicana, disabled, queer feminist filmmaker and artist. Along with her Co-Directors Rodrigo Reyes and Davi Merchan their film Untitled Lorena (in production) won the 2024 DocLands Jury Prize for their recorded pitch. Dawn is the Producer/Co-director of The Pushouts (with Katie Galloway, 2018), earning accolades. A producer/co-producer on films such as Vivien’s Wild Ride (Hillgrove, in production), All We Carry (Voge, 2024), Hummingbirds (Castaños & Contreras, 2023), and Manzanar, Diverted (Kaneko, 2021), she supports filmmakers nationwide. Her work has received support from the Ford Foundation/Just Films, Sundance/SKOLL Fund, Tribeca All Access, Catapult, Latino Public Broadcasting, California Humanities, the Rainin Foundation, and Robertson Family Foundation. She is on the Berkeley Film Foundation and the International Access Coalition board. Dawn is the Co-director of the BAVC Media Maker Fellowship and the Director of Youth and Artist Development at BAVC Media.
