I would love to invite everyone to a very special screening + discussion. Degotelo Studios got the chance to create 3 short documentaries alongside @co_immigrant and SE2 following the real lives, hopes and resilience of Colorado Immigrants. These were made with so so so much love! 🤎
It’s not often the work we do gets the chance to be screened to the public so if you have the chance please came out and share your time with us. Also you will get to meet the incredible Marge Taniwaki… I could go hours talking about her. She is such a warrior and has been fighting for all of us since the 60s.
This a family event so invite your mom and dad, your tios and tias, la suegra and all them nephews. 😂 There will be interpretation for our Spanish speakers as well!
Link for tickets in my bio! 🙏🏽
your people are always waiting on the other side. w/ hugs, balloons, licks, and flowers. 💐
But what does it look like when no one is waiting for you?
you breath and you notice how time has rearranged your memories.
My father arrived(last photo), all he could do is look and stare. How all the buildings have gone higher and the traffic has gotten louder… but the food… ya tu sabes, a veces un caldito poderoso es todo lo que necesitamos 🍲🤤
#streetphotographyperu
people are either leaving or returning, the challenge is to see the difference 🌬️
In the first photo, you will see the mural of the Tumi, a knife in Andean cultures. Used in various ways, but the coolest to me is the ancient Inca surgeons used it to perform skull trepanation with a survival rate of 80-90%. Treating head injuries or to relieve pressure and drain out the blood. Also believed to treat neurological disorders like epilepsy, chronic headaches or mental illness… opening the skull could have been a symbolic act to release these malevolent spirits… 💨
2/2 #streetphotographyperu
Unlike my first trip, I came prepare with my camera in hand with the intention of ONLY taking photos. 📸
I landed at Lima’s former main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport, and because it was rush hour, I took a crack at some street photography outside instead of getting stuck in traffic.
Policía. Taxi Drivers. Plantitas. Waiting. and Helium. 🎈
I think I finally understand what celebrities go through at airports, because as soon as I stepped through the automatic doors, at least 15 taxi drivers were on me with, “¿Hola, amigo, pa’ dónde?” 🫡
1/2
#streetphotographyperu
a moment where I questioned my reality.
seeing the Oppenheimer vs. Barbie craze play out in front of me was very very strange. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share a set of photos from my second trip to Lima with my dad and brother. A unique trip of stories being unlocked, old ones revisited, and new ones imprinted. ✈️💨
Wow… alguien que me peñisque… I’m thrilled to share that The Weight of a Dream (WT) has been selected for the 2025 inaugural Firelight Fund.
I started off in the commercial world, and the last two years I’ve been intentionally shifting into documentary and narrative work. This field can be a maze, but I’m more committed than ever to keep pushing forward.
Huge love and gratitude to @elmentloca96 and his beautiful family for opening your doors, your hearts, and your story. Samuel and I met almost 10 years ago training at MYT(taekwondo), so getting to create together now is truly special.
And grateful to @firelight_media for uplifting filmmakers of color, especially right now. Gracias, de corazón! 🙏🏽🤎
& @airick.mov , @josechalithernandez , @raulpazpastrana , @locolane1 , and the whole @cinefecolorado & @mountainmediaartscollective fam for being there to answer all my ridiculous questions!
y seguimos 🌬️
“What We Are From” for @scholarfundwa made with 🤎 by Erick Arredondo(@airick.mov ) and I
For the past 9 months, we have been running around Latin America, capturing the stories of 4 DACA recipients as they return to their country of birth for the first time since immigrating to the United States.
I’m so excited to finally share this trailer with you. If you know my story, you know this means so much to me. I’m deeply grateful to Erick and everyone at ScholarFund for inviting me into this journey and trusting me to be part of it. And everyone that I meet along the way, truly a healing journey.
It premieres on May 16 in Seattle at the Rainier Arts Center. If you’re in town, I’d love for you to be there. Tickets are in my bio.
We would love to screen this in other states at some point so be on the look out for that! 👀
trailer edited by elpapasitomaspapi @airick.mov 👑
It’s been a couple of months since I returned from my travels. I was out of the country for about two months. And now, back to the routine in Denver, it’s hard not to feel the weight of the U.S. again. Every week, our communities are abducted and terrorized. And I’m reminded of the joy I felt outside this country, of that deep breath.
In a way, I understand why Baldwin left for Paris in 1948. You can’t heal in the shadow of your captor.
I went back to Peru for the solely reason to remember where I come from, to let my body feel what this country tries to make me forget.
This country has made its identity to dehumanize us.
This shit is not new to me.
This migration is not new to me.
My Mother migrated from Huancayo to Lima when she was 17.
My Grandma, Catalina, migrated from Urubamba to Lima when she was 19.
My Grandpa and ma, Mauro and Hilda, migrated from Huancayo to Lima in their 40s.
My Dad migrated from Lima to Aurora when he was 50.
This shit is not new to me.
I come from a linage of migrants, of people who have adapted in order to keep moving forward.
Still, this country tries to own us through fear.
They are just going to deport the “bad” ones, right?
I have a healthy amount of fear running through my bones, but I carry a new found love in my heart. I have accepted what could happen. I’m at peace with it. I ain’t about to let this country take my smile away.
This shit is new to me. 🤎
—
Grateful to the people who have helped during this journey, @airick.mov , @scholarfundwa and all the people in the cohorts, you all have made me stronger with your stories. Gracias, gracias, gracias!
P.S. Reference this if anything where to hap- 😂
so so so grateful to share some frames from my latest project con el mero mero rey, @alejandrowrites , Al Pie de la Montaña 🤎
this one was truly special, not only because this poem is meant for the sad days, but also because of the conversations Ale and I had prior to filming. So much of what we do happens before the day of the shoot. It’s in those conversations where we allow ideas to be shared and listened to, and then letting them sit with us to decide if that’s the direction we want to go. It’s a feeling process! I can’t thank Alejandro enough—he’s the best dance partner I could ask for, along with everyone that made this possible. Gracias!
directed & edited by Diego Estrada Bernuy
produced by Degotelo Studios, @alejandrowrites , Anyel Groher
cinematography by @gaaronteed_fresh , Diego Estrada Bernuy, Anyel Groher
colorist @jonniesirotek
titles @hfpe
If you want to see the whole piece, please go to Alejandro’s IG or the previous post and take a look. 🫶🏽⛰️
