La Flaca
A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ARELY VAZQUEZ
AND THE SANTA MUERTE
Documentary, 20 min | USA & Brazil | 2018 release
La Flaca is a film about Arely Vazquez, a transgender woman and leader of the Santa Muerte (Saint Death) Cult in Queens, New York. During her yearly celebration to the Bony Lady ("La Flaca" as she likes to call her), Arely faces a lot of challenges to fulfill a promise she made ten years ago.
Arely Vazquez's personal story as an immigrant and transgender woman is the starting point of the short movie "La Flaca", that attempts to show what the Santa Muerte (Holy Death) cult is about - a cult formed by those marginalized in our society. The movie blurs the line between documentary and fiction when bringing together real characters and events with a fictional plot, based on the day of the 9th Anniversary of the Santa Muerte. Arely gathers the devotees annually in a celebration through the night, idealized by her as a form of fulfilling her vows to the Skeleton Saint.
That same day she is visited by Enriqueta Vargas, the godmother of the cult that comes all the way from Tultitlan, Mexico to follow the celebration but Arely is constantly harassed and threatened by strangers throughout the day. Despite the support from the community and her husband Jorge, Arely faces a big dilemma before continuing with the yearly celebration.
"La Flaca" is above all a documentary about the overcoming of prejudices and the breaking of tabus, that also questions social superficial morals. It is a movie about life, but it is also a movie about death - the death that is always just for she'll come to meet us all, sooner or later.
AWARDS
Best Documentary Short Film - Tacoma Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Best Documentary Short Film - Seattle Latino Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Best Documentary Short Film & Best Short Film - FESAALP Festival de Cine Latinoamericano de La Plata. Argentina (2019)
Best International Short Film. Espacio Queer. Argentina (2019)
Best Short Award, "Guerrilla" Section - AMOR LGBT+ International Film Festival. Chile (2019)
Best Short Film, VICE en Español Award - Programa de Diversidad Sexual + FICM Morelia. Mexico (2018)
SELECTIONS
Fribourg International Film Festival. Switzerland (2018)
Guanajuato International Film Festival. Mexico (2018)
Message to Man, International Film Festival. Russia (2018)
Queer Lisboa, International Film Festival. Portugal (2018)
Beijing International Short Film Festival. China (2018)
New Orleans Film Festival. U.S. (2018)
Curta Cinema, Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival. Brazil (2018)
Kasseler Dokfest. Germany (2018)
NewFest New York's LGBT Film Festival. U.S. (2018)
Panorama Internacional Coisa de Cinema. Brazil (2018)
SVA Film & Media Festival. U.S. (2018)
MixBrasil, International LGBTQ Film Festival. Brazil (2018)
El Lugar sin Límites, LGBT Film Festival. Ecuador (2018)
Atlantidoc, International Documentary Film Festival. Uruguay (2018)
Havana Film Festival. Cuba (2018)
Short Waves Festival. Poland (2019)
Outfest Fusion LGBTQ People of Color Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Roze Filmdagen, Amsterdam LGBTQ Film Festival. Netherlands (2019)
Film Fest Sundsvall. Sweden (2019)
Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival. Tunisia (2019)
Festival de Films de Femmes de Créteil. France (2019)
Outview Queer Film Festival. Greece (2019)
Chicago Latino Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
IFEMA, International Female Film Festival Malmö. Sweden (2019)
Mecal Pro, Barcelona International Short and Animation Festival. Spain (2019)
Cine Las Américas, International Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival. Canada (2019)
Lakino, Latin American Short Film Festival Berlin. Germany (2019)
Rooftoop Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Sicilia Queer Filmfest. Italy (2019)
Sguardi Altrove Film Festival. Italy (2019)
FRAMELINE, San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Contrast Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
MICGénero. Mexico (2019)
Melgaço Documentary Film Festival. Portugal (2019)
DOQUMENTA, International Documentary Film Festival. Mexico (2019)
LALIFF Los Angeles Latino Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Bangalore Queer Film Festival. India (2019)
OUTFEST Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Festival de Cinéma de la Ville de Québec. Canada (2019)
Encounters Film Festival. UK (2019)
Boston Latino International Film Festival. U.S. (2019)
Tacoma Film Festival. US (2019)
Bushwick Film Festival. US (2019)
Everybody's Perfect LGBTQ Film Festival. Switzerland (2019)
Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival. Switzerland (2019)
BOGOCINE - Bogota International Film Festival. Colombia (2019)
MIDBO, Muestra Int'l de Cine Documental. Colombia (2019)
FESAALP - Festival de Cine Latinoamericano de La Plata (2019)
CREDITS
Director/Writer: Thiago Zanato
Co-director/Writer: Adriana Barbosa
Executive Producer: Thiago Zanato
Production: Sebastián Aguirre
Cinematographer/DP: Alejandro Mejia
Camera assistant: Sandra Kaethner
Editor: Rodrigo Carneiro
Production Assistant: Liz Saldoriga
Sound operator: Mike Wolf Snyder and Lindsey Cordero
Sound design: Ventana Bezerra & Matraca Records
Sound mixing: Fernando Ianni & Renan Vasconcelos
Soundtrack: Thiago Zanato and Max Blum
Color grading: Luisa Cavanagh & Pétala Lopes @ Quanta Post
Distribution: Kino Rebelde
Leading role: Arely Vazquez
Supporting role: Enriqueta Vargas & Puy Navarro
