Bernardo Marentes

Keeping It Personal

Bernardo Marentes
Florida Community College, Class of 2006

Bernardo Marentes was born in Colombia but moved around quite a bit with his missionary parents. After briefly living in Pennsylvania, he attended a private bilingual high school in Honduras. The family arrived in Jacksonville in 2004 for a one-year sabbatical from his parents’ missionary work. But when it was time for them to move on — this time to Peru — Bernardo had already started taking classes at Florida Community College, and he chose stay to finish his degree.

He didn’t have a career path in mind when he first arrived, but it only took a single class to bring one into focus: “Film as Literature” inspired him to become a director and filmmaker. Soon Bernardo was founding the FCCJ Film Club and taking production courses, earning a technical certificate in video production along with his associate in arts.

Bernardo graduated this spring and will transfer to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to major in film and television. After graduating from SCAD, Bernardo’s ultimate goal is to have his own production company, where he could have the freedom to produce, direct and distribute his own work. “There would be more flexibility; I could keep my work personal.”

When he leaves for Savannah this fall, Bernardo will take experience with him, as he already has two award-winning films under his belt. He likes doing film competitions because they often ask for themed entries. “It gives me genres I wouldn’t normally do,” he says. An example would be his most recent film, “Better in Here,” which was entered in a science-fiction themed competition. He plans to be experimental in his film-making, saying, “I don't want to be pigeonholed into one genre; I’d like to make my work as eclectic as possible.”

In addition to film-making, Bernardo also studied sculpting and was a student ambassador, helping the College in recruitment and retention activities. “I loved it,” Bernardo says. “I really enjoyed giving tours and helping new students.”

His dedication to the job must have showed, as this spring he was named Ambassador of the Year for South Campus. In nominating him for the award, ambassador advisor Kelly Horne wrote, “Bernardo has a tremendous gift for making people feel at ease. While most of our ambassadors struggle to get students on the phone, Bernardo has always struggled to get students off the phone. He is such a nice guy and a great listener that students will start by asking about College resources and end up by sharing stories from childhood.” Some of those stories might just make it into a major motion picture one day.

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