Maravillas Lencina

Mara is a native of Alicante, Spain. She has taught Spanish at all levels for undergraduates, graduates, and professionals for over 20+ years. She has been awarded multiple times for her teaching excellence and commitment to student success. She has also provided translation services to the public and private sectors and served as the director of Spanish studies abroad. Mara is a former NCAA Division I All-American tennis player who also was a professional player on the WTA tour. 

Mara is also a co-founder of ValMar Films Studios. Serving as its Executive Producer, Mara has helped create and produce award-winning documentary films such as Stolen Babies of Spain (2019), and Letters to the Pope (2025) which are both on major on-demand video and film streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Fawesome TV, Roku, and Tubi. ValMar Films was established in large part as a creative film narrative to enhance Mara's previous scholarly work on Franco's dictatorship in Spain and its horrific actions towards women and sex trafficking and selling of babies worldwide. Mara has been recognized as an outstanding film producer and advocate for women's issues at global film festivals. 

Mara's commitment to giving a voice to the voiceless and to helping tell the stories of underrepresented communities and people is not exclusively confined to film. She is also an author several publications, including companion books to the documentary films noted above and to scholarly work in journals.

Mara is excited to now be a Bulldawg as she joins her son, Valentin here in Athens as he pursues an MFA in film at UGA. Mara looks forward to working closely with her students in bringing the language, culture and passion of Spain to Athens. She is also excited to connect with other film enthusiasts and colleagues in Athens and throughout Georgia which is fast becoming known as the "New Hollywood."