A Gem of a Short Film by Roxanna Denise Stevens Ibarra

By Elia Esparza

There is nothing like the thrill of an emerging filmmaker watching their hard work and sacrifice of their finished film screen to the public. Emerging filmmaker Roxanna Denise Stevens Ibarra’s short film Tesoro will be screening on August 8th – on  YouTube. Tesoro is part of the University of Arizona’s School of Theatre, Film & Television digital entertainment industry event, I DREAM IN WIDESCREEN 2020.

Watch. Support. And, be a part of the solution to helping Latino filmmakers move their way up. 

Ibarra’s film is about an elderly man being forced to sell his beloved automobile, which he dubs, “Tesoro,” in order to make ends meet. However, giving up his car comes at the price of having to relive his memories of the great joy his Tesoro brought him during his lifetime. 

Ibarra is a filmmaker who has done a marvelous job of capturing much of her childhood familial stories. 

“This was a story I could tell, as I’ve lived through it generationally,” said Ibarra, who wrote, directed, and stars. “The stories flow through my veins as water does through roots. They grow.”

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Ibarra added about the inspiration for Tesoro. “The stories were memories told by my Tata while my Tios sang about lost loves, they were Mami’s stories about my Tata working in the fields and sending money to his brothers, mama, and Tia at the age of fifteen.

“The miscarriages. The romance. The cars. These were snippets of the stories I was told, lived through, and strung together to give as a love letter to my community. To tell the stories I’ve never seen on television or on the big screen, but have heard more than I would have asked to. I had to make this movie so that these stories would not die with each generation of my Mexican-American familia.”

Ibarra is a young talented Mexican-American filmmaker whose debut film, Tesoro, is a powerful start to her career. And, no doubt, she is “one to watch.”

Tesoro is a sensitive and thoughtful debut film—and like its title, a gem of a short movie. Watch it on August 8th! For more information about the 2020 edition, click I DREAM IN WIDESCREEN.