Section I – 5:40 pm-7:05 pm

Meyolotl

Director/Writer:  Lorena R. Valencia 

Producer:  Lorena R. Valencia and Karla Pedraza Jasso

Documentary Short, 17:00

After years living in the US, a filmmaker returns to her hometown to document the bond between her family and the maguey plant that has sustained them for generations. As she observes the deep-rooted bond built on mutual care, she questions her decision to leave, yet learns from the plant that her heart can root in new soil and still stay true to where it first beat.

The Balcony in Shanghai Still Burns

Director/Writer:  Cynthia Zhou

Producer:  Cynthia Zhou, Yilun Xiao, Nightingale Nguyen

Documentary Short,  20:45

Sixteen years after leaving, a 1.5-generation Chinese-Canadian returns to her native city alone, seeking to reconnect with the place that once was home.

Bien Juntitios

Director:  Janine Mapurunga

Writer: Janine Mapurunga and Pedro Garcia

Producer: Pedro Garcia and Gelli Pascual

Documentary Short, 28:17

While filming the Manitos, a group of Spanish-speaking elders in Sacramento, documentary photographer Janine Mapurunga unexpectedly loses her grandmother in Brazil. Unable to return home to grieve with her family, she finds solace among the elders she is documenting, who openly reflect on aging, loss, and the reality of mortality.

This bilingual short documentary weaves together two parallel journeys: Mapurunga’s intimate embrace of the Mexican Día de Muertos altar tradition as a way to process her grief, and the elders’ candid reflections on loneliness, friendship, and the importance of community in the “third stage of life.”