Beverly Hills Film Festival - The Ugly Doll (La muñeca fea)
Twenty-five elderly and active sex workers in Mexico City, between the ages of sixty and ninety, seek peace and community behind the walls of Casa Xochiquetzal, a shelter established for them by a former colleague and friend. The home is named for the Aztec goddess of flowers, beauty and sexual love. The family of women created within this refuge support each other as they attempt to heal from decades of abuse and neglect. Just at it seems that they have finally found a safe place to live out the rest of their lives, their stability is threatened by pressures and forces that develop from within and without the walls of Casa Xochiquetzal.
Interview with Director/Producer/Writer Claudia López García and George Reyes
Main photo: REINITA passed away from cancer in 2010 at 92 years of age.
Watch The Ugly Doll (La muñeca fea) on Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Claudia: “The ugly doll” is a project that we began almost 10 years ago. George was my Documentary professor while I was studying my major in Communication Sciences in Mexico City. We both shared similar tastes in Documentary which ended up in a big friendship. Years later, George contacted and invited me to develop this project after he read an article in the Los Angeles Times about Casa Xochiquetzal, a shelter for elderly sex workers. It Immediatelygot my attention as I found the lives of these women quite interesting, afterwards we approach these ladies and they let us into their lives; as a result here we have “The ugly doll”.
George: We really wanted to give a voice to the women at Casa Xochiquetzal. Despite a lifetime of suffering and abuse, the women show remarkable grace and resilience despite their history. There was beauty and joy in their lives along with the pain. I feel it is easy for many people to turn a blind eye to the plight of "the other." We are all human, and as such, inherently valuable. Invisibility makes it easy to forget this. We wanted to give the women at Casa Xochiquetzal the visibility and voice that they deserve.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Claudia: “The ugly doll” is a different story of resilience. What happens at the end of a sex worker’s life?
George: The women occupy one of the lowest rungs of their society: they are poor, they are elderly, they are sex workers, and they are women. It is important to honor their experiences and story. They are overlooked and often invisible and thus easily exploited. They deserve to have a voice.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Claudia: Mainly sex work is an universal topic. Everybody thinks sex work is usually performed only by young people and they arrive there by their free will and because of that, they earn “easy” money. “The ugly doll” shows us the other side of the hand of one of the world’s oldest profession, with elderly women (between 60 to 95 years old) who became sex workers. Some of them got there as they were deceived and forced to work in prostitution since they were kids or just because they were sold by their parents.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Claudia: At the beginning we thought we could have a short film but as time went by, the confidence and the approach with the women grew so we found that we could have a feature. At the end, we shot more than 100 hours.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Claudia: We have had ambivalent reactions, some people have done hard judgements against the women because they fail to understand their lives, but something wonderful insights happen to many people after they watch “The ugly doll”. The audience show themselves to be sensible, human and understandable against the harsh reality that the women have gone through and they commonly ask us how they can support these women with a donation. In cases like this, we feel very satisfied with the work we have done and we know we succeed in creating empathy with these women.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Claudia: Once I remember that in a Media Market, we pitched the project and we screened the trailer in front of twenty people who were waiting their turn to pitch their projects as we were doing. In the middle of it, the documentary has a scene in which one of the women teaches how to put a condom on a banana, our colleagues (mostly young filmmakers) started laughing and they didn’t stop until the end of it. The only thing I understand is that sometimes the reality overtakes and we do not know how to react. As a society (at least in the Mexican one) elderly sexuality is unthinkable, and now to understand them as sex workers is a taboo.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Claudia: The visibility of these sort of topics such as the one “The ugly doll” addresses are very important, mainly not to repeat the harmful structures of an established social order which is often inequitable and exclusive.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Claudia: What we are looking for is that“The ugly doll” reaches as many people as possible, to achieve that we definitely need more support with distribution.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Claudia: “Empathy” could be the best word that would define it, followed by “social commitment”.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Claudia: How old do you picture a sexual worker?
George: Do you think that anyone is exempt from exploitation?
Would you like to add anything else?
Claudia: We are very grateful for having the opportunity to share “The ugly doll” in wearemovingstories.com
George: We hope that people will be as moved by these survivors as we were.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Claudia: Definitely social topics, themes of human rights in which changes are urgently needed.
George: We hope to continue working on these themes. We are in the planning phase.
Interview: May 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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The Ugly Doll (La muñeca fea)
Twenty-five elderly and active sex workers in Mexico City, between the ages of sixty and ninety, seek peace and community behind the walls of Casa Xochiquetzal, a shelter established for them by a former colleague and friend. The home is named for the Aztec goddess of flowers, beauty and sexual love. The family of women created within this refuge support each other as they attempt to heal from decades of abuse and neglect. Just at it seems that they have finally found a safe place to live out the rest of their lives, their stability is threatened by pressures and forces that develop from within and without the walls of Casa Xochiquetzal.
Length: 88 mins.
Director/Producer/Writer: Claudia López García and George Reyes
About the writer, director and producer:
Claudia López García (Director / Producer / Editor )
I was deeply touched by meeting these women, “The ugly doll” gave me the opportunity to think out of the box. It changed my life.
Key cast: Women of Casa Xochiquetzal.
Looking for: Sales agents, buyers, distributors and journalists.
Social media handles:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lamunecafeafilm
Other: munecafea.com
Where can I see it in the next month?
Claudia: We do not know so far, but we have applied to several film festivals and in our facebook page we constantly announce the screenings. After this year of film festivals we are looking for the opportunity to have “The ugly doll” available on-line.