Sigilcrypt: Priestess of Recursive Silence (Temple of the Data Serpent)
A Collaborative New Media Installation by Ledef, Christopher Sonny Martinez, and Eduardo Garcia
"Sigilcrypt: Priestess of Recursive Silence (Temple of the Data Serpent)," directed by Christopher Sonny Martinez, is an interactive video installation that envelops the viewer in an immersive environment of projected visuals and evocative narration. This work unveils the story of a central figure, the Priestess, who embodies the potent concept of recursive silence. Within the sacred "Temple of the Data Serpent"—a metaphorical space where encrypted knowledge and digital flows intertwine—the Priestess navigates cyclical processes of introspection, resilience, and profound transformation. Over time, the narrative unfolds, subtly encompassing a queer experience of peaceful existence and unburdened presence. This deliberate portrayal highlights a state of tranquility often denied to queer individuals of Black and Brown identities, framing it not merely as a personal state but as a form of privilege and a powerful act of being.
Christopher Sonny Martinez is a Dallas-based multidisciplinary artist, curator, and educator dedicated to elevating Tejanx and Queer Latinx narratives. Through film, photography, and community-centric curation, Martinez challenges normative cultural frameworks while fostering spaces for collective resilience. With a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Martinez spent half a decade producing film, fashion, and commercial photography in New York City. Now back in Dallas, Martinez works to elevate local stories, centered on mi gente and dedicated to breathing new life into the region's creative landscape. His work has reached audiences from Mexico City to New York. Beyond the gallery, he serves as the Lead Youth Educator for the Portable Film Program for Youth at Pegasus Media Project, mentoring emerging filmmakers and advocating for accessible arts education within his community.
You Bring Out The Valley In Me
Directors: Cecilia Sierra and Andrea Flores
You Bring Out the Valley In Me is a visual poem and love letter to the Rio Grande Valley, inspired by the poem You Bring Out The Tejana In Me written by Norma E. Cantu, after You Bring Out The Mexican In Me by Sandra Cisneros. In this film, the perspectives of Cecilia from Brownsville, TX and Andrea from Mission, TX intertwine as they reflect on valley identity, their overlapping experiences, individual perspectives, and deep appreciation for their community.
Andrea Flores is an experimental artist from Mission, TX whose work is often inspired by themes of memory, grief, family, and dreams. She uses film to process emotions and experiences, as well as express the magic and beauty that she sees all over the Rio Grande Valley.
@amisenemigos1999
BRAVO! GRANDE
director - Carmona Rivera
Produced by – Carmona Rivera and Marcelina Gonzales
The spirit of the river reclaims its power, waters, and land by seeking to heal from what is causing it harm.
Carmona Rivera
Carmona Rivera is a Tejane Film artist residing in the lands of the Esto’k Gna, Coahiltecan, and Karankawa peoples (colonially known as South Texas); their work explores themes of identity, spirituality, and decolonization within Tejano communities. Carmona is the founder of the film collective, Pomegranate Vision and has independently produced, written, directed, and edited four original short films. Their work has screened in Texas and Mexico, and been official selections for CineFestival - San Antonio and MIRAAA Media Festival. Currently, Carmona is working in the development stage for an upcoming proof of concept short film. Instagram: @marcellaneous
Marcelina Gonzales
Marcelina Gonzales (b. 1989, Brownsville, Texas) is a resin collage and mixed-media assemblage artist whose work reconstructs fragmented memories of her upbringing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Pulling (quite literally) from her family, who remain private but open when asked, and from the domestic objects preserved in old photographs, Gonzales encapsulates the colors, textures, and rhythms of everyday life in the Rio Grande Valley, celebrating a time and place that is home. She earned her BA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2013 and has had her work exhibited nationally, including at Field Projects (New York City), Chefas Projects (Portland), and Centro de Artes Gallery (San Antonio). Instagram: @pomegranatevision
Fleeting Spaces, Futile Lines
Directed by Ángela García; Cinematography by Christian Mejía; Special Thanks to Sofía García
Fleeting Spaces, Futile Lines is an experimental exploration of the sensorial experience of three separate US-Mexico border towns and their relationship with the border wall. The 16mm film depicts historic buildings, people coexisting with the wall/river, and a female subject. This subject appears at each location, acting as an omniscient observer while travelling along the border from one site to the next. The stripped down approach to the film captures the distinct visual character inherent to the sites that would otherwise be imperceptible through drawing or photography. The female subject acts as a beacon, leading the viewer through each site as it appears on the screen, not lingering at any one location, but instead engaging in the voyeuristic exchange of her physical experience with the viewer’s visual consumption.
Ángela García is a multidisciplinary artist from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. She received a B.A. in Art History from Trinity University and a Master of Architecture from Rice University. Her artistic practice has incorporated film, drawing, installation, collage, and photography. Much of her work contemplates the lived experience of our social order, the conditions that led to its inception, and how image-making is yielded to document it. The symbiotic relationship between human and earth is deeply concentrated at the center of her work, tied together through themes of place, space, identity, and their slippery definitions.
@womanatthecrossroads
Honor the Scorned
Filmmmaker: Xelestial Moreno-Luz
Through poetry and performance Xelestial mourns the
loss of a relationship.
Bio: Xelestial Moreno-Luz is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of experimental documentary, community organizing, and trans visual culture. She utilizes lens-based approaches to critique and transgress the visual institutions that depict transgender bodies within our contemporary landscape. Her work highlights trans affect, fugitivity, and performance. She has spent the past ten years working in coalition to reimagine equity for LGBTQ+ communities, fostering diasporic queer/trans identity formation incubators, and expanding the field of TGI art and sexual health education. She is the founder and CEO of Saturn's Wish, a TGIBIPOC arts and culture organization uplifting communities in Los Angeles county and beyond. Xelestial is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of California, San Diego.
Texas Pride
director: Claudia E. Zapata
Texas queer communities exist and persist despite overwhelming legislation against their existence. This experimental docushort highlights Austin's many queer programs and figures, emphasizing the beauty and grace of being queer in Texas.
Claudia E. Zapata (they/them) earned their Ph.D. in art history at Southern Methodist University’s RASC/a: Rhetorics of Art, Space, and Culture program. They co-founded the Latinx art project Puro Chingón Collective in 2012. This experimental art group develops zines, prints, apparel, designs, and art toys. From 2018 to 2022, Claudia served as the curatorial assistant for Latinx art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, working on the award-winning exhibition ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965-Now (2020), and curating Radical Histories: Chicanx Prints from the
Smithsonian American Art Museum. From 2024-25, they illustrated Arborama! A Tree Game showcasing the Central Texas native trees, climate-resilient trees, and other tree species with the City of Austin’s Urban Forest Program. They were an artist-in- residence with the City of Austin (2025-2026) as part of its inaugural initiative, designed to highlight East Austin's cultural backgrounds. Zapata developed the Memorias Project, an immersive
archival recital and installation that chronicles the history of Latina/o/x communities in Austin. For this project, they composed original music for cello and operatic voice. Zapata is also an emerging screenwriter, playwright, and director. They were one of six finalists selected for the M Film Lab Amplifying Latinx screenwriting lab in 2022. In 2026, their play, “Altares,” was selected as part of the 2026 Austin Latinx New Play Festival presented by Teatro Vivo. Their docushort, Texas Pride (2026), debuted at the Dallas Latino Film Festival. They are currently the Blanton Museum of Art's first associate curator of Latino art in Austin, Texas.
Social Media: @claudiaezapata