‘El Paisa’ is a coming-of-age short film, which is written and directed by Daniel Eduvijes Carrera. The story navigates young love and LGBTQ+ connections while also reflecting Los Angeles’ diverse queer Latine immigrant communities.
According to Los Angeles Blade, ‘El Paisa’ is based on Carrera’s real life experiences, which empowered him to “embrace both his queerness and his Latine heritage.”
“A primary inspiration behind this story was to shed a positive light on an often disparaged portion of our community – the “Paisa” – a term tantamount to “Redneck” or “Wetback,” referring to a recent immigrant of rural origins,” the award-winning LGBTQ+ filmmaker and advocate explained.
Carrera further expressed,
“Through the film, my goal is to reclaim the increasingly derogatory term and elevate our Paisa as a potential source of guidance, queer insight and acceptance.”
Moreover, ‘El Paisa’s synopsis via the outlet reads:
“‘El Paisa’ is a coming-of-age drama that follows gay goth skater Fernando (Cristian Urbina), who after being rescued from a gang of cholos by a stern vaquero (David Ty Reza) on the streets of East LA, finds the courage to put an end to closeted young love, leading to a newfound connection to his Latine and LGBTQ+ familia.”
‘El Paisa’ had it’s world premiere at Outfest LA back in July, and it will also be shown at QFilm Festival on September 16. Not to mention, it is set to be distributed online and on television via LPB/PBS in 2024 after its film festival viewings.
In the meantime, you can watch the trailer here:
Sources: losangelesblade.com, queerty.com
I get bummed when people make gay movies but they’re not full length. I’m sure it’ll be good it just seems like more people would see it if it was feature length.