John Jota Leaños is a Mexican/Italian-American and Chumash interdisciplinary artist, documentary animator, and social art practitioner whose work engages the intersections of history, memory, and power through a social justice lens. A Guggenheim Fellow in Film and Media, Creative Capital Artist, and United States Artist (USA) Fellow, Leaños’ practice spans a range of media, including documentary animation, video, public art, installation, and performance. His work disrupts dominant narratives by offering alternative perspectives through strategic social documentation and symbolic intervention.

Leaños’ animation films have been featured internationally at over 100 film festivals and museums, including PBS.org, the Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Morelia International Film Festival, and New York’s Lincoln Center. His animated works have garnered numerous awards, such as Best Short Documentary at Dance Camera West, El XicanIndie Premio Mayor for Most Outstanding Film at XicanIndie Film Festival, and Best Animation at the Cult Critic Movie Awards. Additionally, his films have been recognized at festivals like the New Port Beach Film Festival, Lost River Film Festival, Cucalorus Film Festival, and the San Diego Latino Film Festival.

A professor in the Department of Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Leaños’ installation work has been exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Whitney Biennial, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and others. His installations, including El Muertorider, a lowrider media installation, have challenged viewers to engage with cultural histories from fresh perspectives.

Leaños’ Ghostly Labor: A Dance Film, co-directed with Vanessa Sanchez, exemplifies his commitment to community-engaged work. The film, produced in collaboration with ALAS, a farmworker advocacy organization, highlights the resilience of laborers along the U.S.–Mexico border through a blend of Tap, Mexican Zapateado, and Son Jarocho. Ghostly Labor has been featured at the Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center, Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, and several international dance festivals, winning numerous awards and resonating deeply with diverse audiences.

His ongoing commitment to exploring Indigenous histories, resilience, and resistance is reflected in his animated documentary series, “Prayers for Redress,” in the traveling exhibition Contemporary Ex-Votos: Devotion Beyond Medium, a video installation focused on the traumas of Indigenous children in U.S. and Canadian residential schools.