FRIDAY - Experimental Videos
6PM - DJ Ke Mala
7PM - Films
8PM - Talkback
9PM - DJ Ke Mala
TIERRA
Director: Fana Adjani (Oaxaca, MX)
TIERRA is a story about the recognition of the destruction, the defense of territory, ecofeminisms, the feminist struggle and the seed, the muxe identity within the maps and geographies of Latin America. Only through the vindication of femininities can Latin America ever be free.
“The EARTH wakes up and comes closer, and it screams in my ear that it can ́t take it anymore...”" Lukas Avendaño (a nahual), is born in it’s house (“Mother Earth”), whilst in a forest (in the Sierra of Oaxaca) as a metaphor for the interior world, Latin America is agonizing. Lukas sets out on a journey and his gaze finds the gaze of the other woman: Li Saumet (Bomba Estéreo), they are a single entity and they know it. Lukas runs toward him/herself, finds him/herself, is transformed, Lukas ‘muxe’ (a third gender recognized within the Bernanke Za’a Zapotec communities of Mexico) is unity and strength. They accompany each other; and in a collective embrace hope and action are detonated, their femininities are a profound revolution, they are the defense of territory and seed.”
Cast: Lukas Avendaño, Li Saumet (Bomba Estéreo)
Cinematographer: Emilio Valdés
Re-recording Mixer: Carlos Cortés
Producer - Jorge Perelló
Flowers and Friendship
Directed by: ENTRE & Friends (Rio Grande Valley, TX)
IG: @entre.tx
La Afinidad is a youth art and forest therapy camp where participants cultivate deep connection to nature, themselves and others through relational learning opportunities including: Exploring the Japanese practice of Shinrin- Yoku, multi-media art and stewardship. ENTRE was invited to lead a workshop for participants to collectively make a camera-less film using native plants found at Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen, TX. La Afinidad was designed and facilitated by Taylor Zavala, Quinta Mazatlan's Environmental Education Supervisor, and the workshop was facilitated by C. Díaz, filmmaker and co-founder of ENTRE Film Center. The soundscape was recorded over the course of the camp, and includes participants' commentary and the sounds of Quinta's nature refuge.
Films by Skylar Blue, Levi Perez, Amira Vera, Aiden Lumagbas, Elijah Alarcon, Ocxavier Urest, Johnathan Gutierrez, Anja Mayahuel Solis Garcia, Draco Uxmal Solis Garcia, Maria Vela, Wade Bodden & Gema Medina.
Soundscape by: Taylor Zavala and C. Díaz
A 35mm direct animated film made by participants at Camp La Afinidad in March 2025.
Un Abrazo del Otro Lado
Directed by: Trucha (Omar A. Casas Jr & Laura Daniela Martinez)
Rio Grande Valley, TX
Instagram: @truchargv
A young Mexican woman who is feeling lost goes on an arduous journey across harsh terrain catching the attention of her ancestors who help guide her. "My vision for this film was to be as relevant as I could while still being able to capture the creativity of how my story is told. With recent events hitting the Mexican/Latino community hard in the LA protests to the No kings protest here in the valley. I wanted to make a film about the journey and the spiritual aspects of what our community is facing. We show our protagonist on a journey, where is she going, where is she etc. My intention is to leave that narrative open to the viewers. I also wanted to use as much symbolism as I could to help shape the story. Including filming at one of our crews old family cemeteries. Using La Lomita as a visual sense of hope and guidance which is also a huge hotspot for people crossing over from Mexico. To them that is hope. -Laura Daniela Martinez
Story by: Abigail Vela, Laura Daniela Martinez, Santana Peralez
Story Concepts by: Abigail Vela, Omar A. Casas Jr., Santana Peralez
Starring: Daniela Marlene Gonzalez Joya
Voiceover By: Priscilla Rosas
Poetry by: Abigail Vela, Laura Daniela Martinez, Santana Peralez
Edited by: Omar A. Casas Jr.
Assistant Camera: Charlie Perez
DI Colorist & Audio Engineer: Andrew Perez
Cinematography & Sound Design: Omar A. Casas Jr.
Supporting Cast: Abigail Vela, Alondra Ramirez, Charlie Perez, Johnny Platas, Laura Daniela Martinez, Omar A. Casas Jr., Santana Peralez
Alcohólico
Director: Lechita Kandy (Eagle Pass , TX) | Instagram: @lechitakandy
“Alcohólico” was born from my own experience with alcoholism and the physical and emotional collapse that came with it. I wanted to tell this story not as a clean recovery narrative, but as it truly felt—chaotic, grotesque, and terrifying. By using claymation-inspired visuals and body horror, I aimed to capture the distorted reality of withdrawal, where the body becomes unrecognizable and the world itself feels hostile. This film is not just about destruction—it’s about survival. Beneath the horror, it is a testament to resilience, to facing the darkest corners of the self, and to the possibility of finding a way back.”
Lechita Kandy is an experimental filmmaker, musician, poet, and karaoke host based in Austin, Texas. Their work combines machinima, outdated software, AI tools, and other unconventional techniques to create films that blur the line between the surreal and the deeply personal. With a vision rooted in telling honest stories through unsettling and dreamlike imagery, Kandy transforms the chaos of memory, addiction, and survival into haunting works of experimental cinema
Cuerpos de Papel
Director: Ximena Cuevas (Ciudad de México)
Cuerpos de Papel is a dense visual meditation on sexuality, loss, jealousy and intimacy. It uses rich sensual images to weave a digital portrait of an intimate, erotic, and emotional past. As the images transform, we are left with a slippery sense of intangibility and delicacy.
Ximena Cuevas is Mexico´s video artist extraordinaire : half magician, half mermaid, master of all she surveys. Cuevas looks upon her beloved metropolis of Mexico City with an eye both jaundiced and passionate. At the same time, she has turned her camera back on her own daily life and charted the quotidian pleasures and crises found therein. Her camera is expressive and inventive, her editing style jaunty and edgy, her musical taste unerring. Whether her subject is lesbian romance or heterosexual machismo, you couldn´t ask for a better guide.
El Abuelo
Director: Dino Dinco (Tijuana, MX)
Shot on location in San Antonio, Texas, El Abuelo is an intimate portrait of local educator and poet, Joe Jiménez. Through the meditative process of ironing his clothes (a duty often identified as “women’s work”), we experience Joe in that familiar goal of finding the perfect crease. Of all domestic chores, ironing is the only one a “homeboy” is more than happy to master, as masterful ironing is the key to reaching an appearance of perfection. And to a homeboy, perfect creases work hand in hand with the power of attraction.Through voiceover, we hear Joe reading his poem, “El Abuelo,” and learn of the potency of ironing that’s used to capture the attention of his “first vato” – his first love of another man."
Producer: Dino Dinco & Christopher Blauvelt; Cinematographer: Christopher Blauvelt; Editor: Augie Robles
DINO DINCO is a film and theater director, performance art curator and maker, writer, and lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts at UC San Diego. Based in Tijuana, México, his work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Paris, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, in group shows internationally, and is included in the collection of Le Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain de Haute-Normandie, France, as well as private collections in Paris, Antwerp, Brussels, Los Angeles, Barcelona, New York and London. Dinco’s first feature length documentary film, Homeboy, explores gay Latino men who were in gangs. His award-winning short film, El Abuelo, with San Antonio poet Joe Jiménez, premiered at the Tate Modern, has screened internationally, and is included in the online LGBTQ film platform, Frameline Voices. Dinco co-founded You Wear it Well (2006-2008), the first traveling international film festival dedicated to short films on fashion. He was a Consulting Producer on the Fall 2021 installment of KCET’s Artbound documentary film series which profiled the itinerant Downtown Los Angeles queer dance party, Mustache Mondays (2007 - 2018), of which Dinco was a co-founder.
Transmission
Director: Chava Ramirez (San Benito,TX)
IG: @chavaarts
This short ask the question “What if a machine or a.i. is able to recount memories that are not their own.” This is part of an ongoing passion project that I have been working on since 2019.