Casa Tamarindo

chicana stardust

2020 · Las Californias (Tijuana / San Diego region)

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The Milky Way's first space telenovela. A retro-futuristic short film by Benjamin Huerta and Itamar Lilienthal, produced by Casa Tamarindo and filmed on both sides of the most-crossed border in the western world.

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Chicana Stardust is what happens when Star Wars gets re-shot in Tijuana with a Chicana cast and a borderland conscience. Akyra, ruler of Planet Jaba, has dispatched two warriors to find Fela — the titular Chicana Stardust — who has stolen the Amulet, the most important artifact of their home planet. The Amulet connects the Jaba people to their ancient homeland of California. A craven General is moving to destroy what's left of that legacy. Fela ran with the Amulet to keep it safe.

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The whole thing is shot on the streets of Tijuana and the desert vistas of the U.S.–Mexico border. The fashion is eighties B-movie neon. The characters look like they walked out of a comic book. The light is California.

Underneath the genre is a real question. What role do Chicanas and Chicanos play in the larger conversation about Mexican culture? How do you adapt to America without losing where you came from? Do you have a say about what happens in either country, when you're stuck in between? The film takes those questions and runs them through space opera. The diaspora becomes the plot.

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credits

Written and directed by Benjamin Huerta and Itamar Lilienthal. Starring Margaret Abud as Akyra, Linda Abud as Fela. Produced by Casa Tamarindo. Released 2020.

collaborators

  • Co-Director: Benjamin Huerta
  • Co-Director: Itamar Lilienthal

category