💃🏽 We won the audience award for BEST NARRATIVE SHORT! This award was voted on by people who attended the screening or watched virtually. The award is based on the entire lineup of 41 short films selected this year! Way to go to the cast and crew that made all of this possible and thank you so much to those of you who watched and voted. We love you and are so appreciative of this journey.

Yesterday, Watsonville Film Festival announced their lineup and schedule. You can find us here: SUEÑOS DE PERTENENCIA

IF you are in and around the Santa Cruz, San Jose, Salinas or Pajaro Valley area, please come say hello. We are super excited to be surrounded by COMUNIDAD for this festival and bring the film to the people it portrays and was meant to celebrate.

These are difficult times for so many of us as we worry about family members and neighbors being swept up and carried away without due process, but what is done in public has been done in private before. The only exception now is that the crimes are being livestreamed to our screens.

Our culture has always been threatened by the powers that be and we continue to RESIST. Through our dance, through our music, through our food, through our stories, through our clothing, through our art, through our laughter, through our tears, through our superstitions, through our parties, through our work, through our beliefs, through our celebrations, through our culture, and through our films. We persevere. We are resilient. And many of us have always and will continue to RESIST. These criminal deportations in broad daylight have only added numbers and allies to our cause. My hope is now, we see the value in unification. Fighting for our Black, Asian, Indigenous, Arab, and LGBTQ+ neighbors too. All of us bundled together are way more difficult to break than each of us singled out.

This isn’t to say we aren’t hurting right now. We are. Many of us are.

However, last weekend’s screening and celebrations and this AUDIENCE AWARD reminded me of a very important glimmer of hope: we are still here and regardless of the powers that be and gatekeeping in the film industry, the people want these stories.

Our neighbors have always wanted to know us and these films give them opportunities to see us. More important than that, they give us the opportunity to see ourselves. I grew up watching films that didn’t represent the people I loved and grew up with. I saw cliches and stereotypes but never complex, sensitive people caring for one another despite our forgotten neighborhoods and systemic and internalized racism and violence that sought to repress us and alienate us from the world. But regardless of awards, Imma keep making movies and hope you keep doing your thing too!

I am extremely grateful to ESTEVAN for helping us make this film. For the CAST AND CREW for bringing everything they could and putting it all out there on set.

I am so grateful to CELESTE for taking a chance on telling this story because she saw these characters the way no one else could. Celeste, you are AMAZING. The cast and crew know it. But I hope YOU know too. We are so lucky for you.

And I am truly grateful to my FAMILY and FRIENDS for inspiring me to do this day in and day out even when it seems ridiculous. My partner EMILY and child LUPITA stay supporting me even when I have to leave for days to do this work. My LA/OAKLAND/MEXICO/EL SALVADOR family who all have pieces of themselves in all my stories because they inspire me everyday with their love and courage. And to all the HOMIES who came to the screening… 😭😢🥺😵💀. You made my year!

We have another festival acceptance to share soon (embargoed from sharing until April 1st, 2026) but I will give you a tiny HINT: it’s not on the WEST Coast.

More news coming soon! See you in Watsonville for the next puro pinche party!

🤎 jon