Rate My Professor Daniel Garcia

Daniel Enrique Garcia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he specializes in the Cinematic Arts area as co-area coordinator. He joined the university as an Assistant Professor in 2016 and has since contributed significantly to the program's growth. Garcia earned his M.F.A. in Filmmaking from Ohio University in 2003 and an M.A. from Wheaton College in Illinois. His teaching focuses on screenwriting, film production, and narrative development, with courses such as Introduction to Screenwriting and Advanced Narrative Screenwriting emphasizing project-based learning where students craft original stories. He advises graduate students in film and moderates visiting artist workshops, including a session with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Jared Hess in 2025.

Garcia's research interests encompass digital storytelling, community memory, and socially relevant filmmaking, exploring themes like the struggles of gay and minority inmates in Peruvian prisons, children abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, and women in Pacific coast fishing villages of South America. His notable films include Tempestad, which received Best Drama at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards in 2018 and a Platinum Award from the International Independent Film Awards. More recently, El Abismo y la Orilla (The Abyss and the Shore) was presented in competition at the Hollywood International Diversity Film Festival and Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival. Throughout his career, he has garnered prestigious honors, including the Best Short Film Award from the HBO New York International Festival, Special Jury Award for Individual Performance from the Las Americas International Film Festival, Best of the Fest from the Boston International Latino Film Festival, and four Telly Awards for cinematography, editing, and HD use. At UTA, Garcia organizes student showcases like the Cinematic Arts End of Semester Drive-In Film Festival and participates in faculty biennials, fostering creative expression and community engagement within the department.