When an AI Productivity Monitoring Software deems widow Tita (Laura Patalano) no longer fit for work due to her swelling joints, she reluctantly hires an AI humanoid to fill in for her picking strawberries out in the fields. Yet, as model after model breaks down during the arduous labor, it becomes clear that no AI Humanoid the company provides is capable of executing the same back-breaking work. 

Patalano is endearing and just the right amount of tough in her role as Tita, who navigates both a humorous and heartfelt performance. She is surrounded by an equally engaging cast that convinces us that Caballero’s world in the not-too-distant future could very soon be a reality. 

Written by Luis Antonio Aldana & Miguel Angel Caballero, this film was produced by Helena Sardinha and Rafael Thomaseto, presented at the Tribeca Festival and was made as part of Indeed’s Rising Voices program – an initiative set up to discover, invest in and share stories created by BIPOC filmmakers and storytellers, and has qualified to be considered for a 2024 Academy® Award. Rising Voices was created in collaboration with Emmy® Award-winning writer, creator, and actor Lena Waithe, Hillman Grad Productions, Ventureland and 271 Films.

Miguel Angel Caballero (co-writer/director) is the son of Mexican immigrant farm workers and an award-winning Queer Mexican-American/Chicano writer, director, and producer. His short film, ACUITZERAMO, premiered at the Morelia International Film Festival, won 20 awards internationally, and is screening on MAX. Miguel Angel is an Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellow, Film Independent Project Involve fellow, and the Warner Bros. Discovery 150 Artist Grant recipient. Miguel Angel was one of ten directors selected to participate in the 2022 inaugural Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Accelerator Program and won the Humanitas New Voices Fellowship. 

STARRING

Laura Patalano

Luis Antonio Aldana

Nico Greetham 

Cheryll Umaña

Rocío Lopez

Geoffrey Rivas

Rafael Cobos Delgado

Juan Alfonso

Elia Saldana

Joan Almedilla

Arlene Santana

Christain Jaime Garcia

Kiara Bletran

David Rodriguez Estrada

PRODUCTION: Indeed, Hillman Grad Productions, 271 Flms

DIRECTOR:  Miguel Angel Caballero

WRITERS: Luis Antonio Aldana, Miguel Angel Caballero

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Lena Waite, Rishi Rajani, Doménica Castro, Constanza Castro

PRODUCERS: Helena Sardinha, Rafael Thomaseto

The post REVIEW: The Ballad of Tita and The Machines has an unorthodox hero first appeared on .

“I’m humbled and absolutely thrilled to have been invited by Outfest to screen my latest film alongside Grease. Talk about a dream come true! And what an extraordinary honor to share the stage with one of my mentors, the incomparable Randal Kleiser whose kind support has been instrumental in helping me hone my voice as a queer Latine filmmaker.” shares Carrera

El Paisa, written and directed by Carrera and produced by Miguel Angel Caballero, is an empowering narrative short film that reflects the diversity of queer Latine immigrant communities in Los Angeles. The coming-of-age drama follows gay goth skater Fernando (Cristian Urbina), who after being rescued from a gang of cholos by a stern vaquero (David Ty Reza) on the streets of East LA, finds the courage to put an end to closeted young love, leading to a newfound connection to his Latine and LGBTQ+ familiar.

In making this film, Carrera wanted to not only shed light on the diversity of the Latine LGBTQ+ community but also to uplift Latine talent both in front of and behind the camera. True to the spirit of the story, the film’s cast is 100% Latine and the crew is 90% Latine. El Paisa, funded in part by Latino Public Broadcasting, will be distributed online and on television via LPB/PBS in 2024 after its film festival run, taking the film’s uplifting messages of diversity, acceptance, and empowerment through Latinx culture, to a broader audience.

Writer/Director Daniel Eduvijes Carrera is an accomplished voice in American Latine filmmaking. His work has screened at the Tribeca, Guadalajara, Morelia, Huesca, and Los Angeles Film Festivals, at numerous art museums, and on international television broadcasts. He’s the winner of the Imagen Foundation Award, the Top Prize winner in Ovation TV’s Search for the Next Revolutionary Filmmaker, and was recognized as Best Latino Film Director by the Directors Guild of America Student Film Awards.

The film’s original music was written, composed, and produced by Ricky Garay and Silas Hite of Los Tigres del Acordeón presented by Cumbia Fever. The film’s opening song Banquito is a charming cumbia about falling in love at a nightclub, based on Garay’s own love story.

RSVP for this event at https://outfest.eventive.org/schedule/64cbf7c3e2ae6b00aba9988b.

The post Daniel Eduvijes Carrera’s New Short Film ‘El Paisa’ Opens Outfest Under The stars Grease Sing-A-Long on August 11 first appeared on .