M A T R I A R C H Y short film 2017

Photo by Rosa Navarrete
Starring Lauren Ballesteros
Featuring the Mural Artwork of NANI CHACHON

I walked into Little Casa ready to support artists I love in the Boyle Heights community, la gran Patricia Zamorano. I was first introduced to her work when she was a featured artists in my first year doing Chicanas, Cholas, Y Chisme. The show was called MATRIARCH and it featured a survey of mujeres in the arts. I sat down, looked at the program, and prepared myself for a night full of powerful womyn performers. I was not disappointed. Funny, strong, courageous, death-talking, sexy bumping, patriarch-challenging being after being came on stage and then my friend Lauren Ballesteros was up there. She began reading Patricia's words.  I was thrown into a world that supported, adored, enjoyed, and celebrate LA MUJER. Y ya! I was hooked. I was in the world she had sketched out in my mind - MATRIARCHY! "I wasn't ready..." as one of the line says for what was to happen next, but I let it happen and moved with the flow of this vision through intuition and purpose.

I had been spending time complaining to a friend about the lack of strong Latinx representation in the entertainment industry a few days before, then this fell down from heaven. That even with representation, I was still seeing cliches and issues with some of the characters who have been able to survive the market. So when Lauren went on stage and began to spit the words written by the prolific Patricia Zamorano -- I was instantly hooked, and instantly hungry to learn more about this character.

I wrote Patricia, a fellow CCC-er, telling her about my visions. Telling her that she had painted a picture for me, that she had pitched me a feature film with her spoken word piece. We met up at Casa Fina Restaurant, the three of us - Patricia, Lauren and myself. I told them what I was thinking. And in a matter of one week . . . we created a short film. Produced and starring mujeres. Now, Patricia - Lauren - and I call ourselves a tribe. And we have embarked on a journey with full commitment. None of us know what's in store, all we know is we have to be ready.

Our journey with this project has just begun. The short film is titled MATRIARCHY. You can follow our journey at our Facebook page below. Trailer and more details to follow. Like us on Facebook, link below.

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matriarchyfilms/
Email us: MatriarchyFilms@gmail.com

This was the night of our first public viewing at Casa Fina for Chicanas, Cholas, Y Chisme presents ArtNight. The theme was SPEAKING UP and we screened our film the same night Luis Rodriguez, Lindsey Haley, Maria G. Martinez, and friends. It was a night of magia and SI SE PUEDE attitude. Follow the journey by searching #MATRIARCHYshortfilm.