Aaron Maccarley

Born and raised in Los Angeles suburbia, Aaron found a creative outlet in editing videos in his early teens, and followed the intellectual path of one of his film idols, the Coen Brothers, earning a B.A. in Philosophy at Reed College in 2014. He moved to Berlin, Germany, in February 2016, where he joined a film production course at Catalyst Art Institute, where he created 6 short films and won the “Golden Gorilla” Award for 2017. After a 6 month stint in Los Angeles gaining lighting experience on major commercial productions, he moved back to Europe to found his own filmmaking business, and he has lived since between Germany, Spain, and Portugal working as a freelance director, cinematographer, and editor. His short films have been shown at numerous film festivals across Europe. When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in 2022, Aaron, a believer in Ukraine's fight for freedom, decided to do what he could to support their cause, and in February 2023, Aaron moved to Ukraine to produce his first feature film, the documentary "Sunflowers in the Rain," which premiered in Edinburgh on Feb 23, 2024.