We are moving stories

“This movie is an intense, intimate story about a teacher and her class in the middle of a crisis. It’s a gripping drama that will hopefully make an impact on you. You should watch it if that’s what you want to watch right now. I also understand we’re in the midst of a global pandemic and get if watching a crisis is not what you want to watch at the moment.”

“It’s surprisingly funny due to the great performances and it’s also incredibly sweet watching these two fall in love. I think it’s got something for everyone – it’s funny and sweet and suspenseful and also a bit heart breaking to watch. It’s tough to watch at the end there but we try to make the ride an enjoyable one.”

“I’ve noticed that portrayals of Latinos in media are hard to come by (5.8% of 11,000 surveyed speaking roles on TV and films, according to the Comprehensive Annenberg Report On Diversity, even though we represent about 18% of the US population), and the roles that we do see are often one-dimensional ideas of who Latinos are (narcos, maids, “illegals,” and sex objects). I like to write stories that look at us as whole individuals, so that when Latinos view them or read them, they will feel seen and valued. Ultimately, if as the media we’re consuming portrays Latinos “bad,” de-valued, expendable, or where they’re invisible, we’re not using the potential of storytelling, which is to highlight interconnectedness and weave lives together.”

“Our search for identity is a human thing, it doesn’t just happen with one group of people or the other. That search, coupled with the fact that Isabella comes from a Puerto Rican family living in a predominately white town, amplifies the concept of Isabella finding solace within her cultural identity. Regardless of your background, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, etc., anyone can identify with Isabella’s story.”

“Growing up there were no expectations for me, I was just another slutty, fat latina girl growing up in the ghetto. Since then I’ve found success both in my activism and craft as a filmmaker. I have developed an appetite for life, for my future and belief that things will get better for my community and for the women in my life.

I wish I had known of a successful young latina who had gone through similar occurrences.”

“We began working on this project a few years ago, as a collective dedicated to making films that were entertaining but that also portrayed life for adolescents and young adults in the notorious neighborhood of South-Central Los Angeles in non-stereotypical ways.”

“From a universal perspective, who hasn’t found themselves tired of being pushed around at some point in their life? We all reach a point of ‘enough is enough’ and I feel, our general human nature looks for us to seek ways to gain power rather than understanding. We translated historical events of the past, i.e. The Cuban Revolution, The French Revolution, The American Revolution, Ganhdi’s Independence Movement, The Arab Spring, and Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights activism, to seek what it was that has marked the greatest amount of change for the longest period of time.

There are markers of each movement hidden within different characters and different parts of the story so that it’s digestible for children, and recognizable by adults. It is our goal that taking all these well-known events and seeing them from a child’s perspective, makes it accessible to children and adults.”

“Everybody knows that Mexican inmigrants are discriminated in Mexico but in this film I wanted to show how vulnerable and disciminated Hondurans are in Mexico.”

“I made 93 Miles to raise awareness for the issue of Cuban athletes, specifically baseball players, and the dirty paths they have to endure to make it into major league baseball, in the US.”

“The film plays against the backdrop of illegal immigration and there are no thematic more universal than that facing our world right now. But the movie doesn’t take sides or politicize the issue, since that’s only the backdrop. It’s a story about people, and the will power that people can summon when life pushes them to extremes.”

“BOJAYÁ: Caught In The Crossfire is a film about the importance of memory and healing. It is a film that seeks to unpick the cause of the massacre and explore how such an atrocity can be used to sustain war. It is a film about what it means to be a victim – and how that should be a term not to denote weakness, but strength.

It is a film about how the root causes of conflict, if not addressed, will inevitably lead to the repetition of violence. As Leyner says in the film: “Colombia is cyclical. The cycle of violence needs to broken – and the only way to do that is to remember the past.”

“If you are a woman, my hope is that you laugh and remember fondly about your first time using a tampon (or pad). I hope to be able to connect women with this universally shared experience and to promote lifting each other up.

If you are a man, I hope this film unveils some of the fear and stigma behind using a tampon. It can be really scary for young women. I hope men can walk away with more empathy towards women regarding this topic!”

“The goal I’ve always stated in my mind was “if my mom and grandma like this movie, I did something right”. The reason I say that is because that would mean we made a movie that is accessible to everyone. I want people to laugh but most importantly feel the familial connection of this movie we hoped to create.”

“One theme that the film explores is the concept of relief: relief from being different than everyone around you, relief from societal expectations of gender, race and class…even relief from your own repressed feelings. And I think that this kind of relief is a type of freedom that everyone can relate to and that everyone longs for. Especially women.”

“This film takes you inside one of the biggest social movements to emerge in Mexico in recent years, which is the movement for justice in the case of the missing students and everything it exposed about collusion between the Mexican government and the cartels. At the same time, it is personal and intimate, and you are on the bus with these families who are ceaselessly fighting for their children. Whether you know a lot about the crisis in Mexico or aren’t familiar with it, the artistic approach we used draws you in and helps you feel what it means for its people to be experiencing one of the most tragic stages of their history.”

“We all are familiar with images of violence as a result of the crusade against drug cartels in Mexico. I’m familiar with these conflicts as well. Members of my family in the state of Michoacan have been kidnapped and even murdered. The reason for making this film is both political and personal, as memories of the pastoral landscapes of my childhood clashes against images of extreme violence”

“Viewers of Rancheros del Jaguar will definitely learn something about jaguars and a special conservation strategy, but will also get to know a Mexican community in a way that isn’t often shown - these cattle ranchers are real, warm, and passionate. As a positive story, it can really leave audiences feeling hopeful for the future of jaguar conservation, wildlife management relations, and the ability to change.”

“I was personally and spiritually at a very difficult stage: I started to accept and become more aware of life’s nature. I was trying to clear up my head and recover my spirit, so that I could never go back to that dark point in my life.”

“Hopefully, you will empathize with the characters and, although the story is set on a fantasy world, you will see the similarities with our society and how humankind relies on its religious leaders. ”

“This is a film made with lots of love, we tried to make a very honest film. If you have felt loneliness of some kind this a story for you.”

“It’s not a happy ending story and the narrative is unconventional but there’s a lot of beauty in its fatalism and you feel aroused, touched and transgressed, all at once.”

“The story of the disappeared is so unknown to Americans. There are 120,000 Central Americans that have disappeared on the way to the border or even on American soil. But I’m also making this film because of my own personal need of expression and communication using filmmaking as a tool to observe and experiment with the possibilities of reality.”

“Central America’s culture is invisible to the world. We are small undeveloped countries in a forgotten region of the world, only known for war, gangs, or Tourist attractions, but our culture and artists are unknown to the world for many reasons...”

“I want hip hop music to be able to reach more countries around the world so that they know what we do in Guatemala.”