Armando Ibañez is a queer filmmaker from Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Armando is committed to portray authentic Latinx characters and address real issues impacting immigrants and LGBTQ communities in the United States. 

Armando has been living in the United States for over 20 years and lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Cerritos Community College with an AA in Film and TV production. 

His passion for film began at the age of 7 years old while watching Mexican cinema from the 1950s. Armando is the writer and director of the award-winning YouTube series Undocumented Tales, a story that follows the journey of a Mexican undocumented and queer server living in Los Angeles. The series has been screened around the country, at universities, community spaces, and film festivals including Outfest. In 2018, he was nominated for the LAWEBFEST Awards in the categories of outstanding writing, outstanding directing, outstanding drama series, and won for outstanding lead actor. During the same year, Armando received the Entrepreneurship Fund from Immigrants Rising to finish the third season and it premiered in November 2019.

In 2020, Armando directed the short film Freedom for All, in collaboration with Lush Cosmetics as part of a campaign to advocate for the rights of undocumented immigrants. Armando’s work includes collaborations with CultureStrike, Translatin@ Coalition, Immigrants Rising, Familia:TQLM, and SolCollective. Armando directed the short film Before and After Detention, a documentary that follows the journey of transgender women pursuing a better life in the U.S. Armando was also part of the Artists Disruptors Fellowship program created by The Center for Cultural Power and 5050by2020. The Fellowship provides opportunities to emerging television writers of color who also identify as transgender, non-binary, disabled, undocumented, and/or formerly undocumented to disrupt narratives in mainstream media.

Armando funded Ibanez Productions, a production company that focuses on creating underrepresented stories. This year, Armando premiere his new short film Hola Santiago, Armando is currently promoting the fourth and final season of Undocumented Tales.Armando is committed to portray authentic Latinx characters and address real issues impacting immigrants and LGBTQ communities in the United States.