COLA grantee Paolo Davanzo is a filmmaker, educator and co-founder of the Echo Park Film Center. He was born in Italy to an Italian father and a Canadian mother and then emigrated to North America as a child. His parents were both social justice activists who died very early in his life and their passing became the impetus for opening EPFC in 2001. He believes in the power of cinema to create change, love and harmony in the world.