Piñata Prayers
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Documentary
Do you know where piñatas come from, and their intertwined colonial history with religion? Discovering this led to the making of this film, which uses piñatas, archival footage, and recorded conversations to reflect upon my own loss of faith and reckoning with mortality.
Green Light
This campaign raised $6,438 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
69 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Do you know where piñatas come from, and their intertwined colonial history with religion? Discovering this led to the making of this film, which uses piñatas, archival footage, and recorded conversations to reflect upon my own loss of faith and reckoning with mortality.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The film begins with a childhood memory. Daniel, age 2, sees a piñata from across the street and runs after it - he is nearly killed by a semi-truck in the process. Adult Daniel’s narration guides us from this memory onto others, as archival and re-enactment intertwine and reveal core memories of a childhood spent both in church and smashing piñatas. The film unveils the little-known origins of the piñata and its evolution from a colonial Catholic ritual into a secular celebration of life. Daniel fears death - an ever present possibility during his teenage years living among the gang wars of El Salvador - but he ultimately believes that so long as he is faithful to God, he will live forever under his protection. Yet as he grows older and begins to question his faith, this shield begins to crack.
In the present, Daniel has since lost his faith… but not his love for piñatas. This leads him to meeting with Yesenia Prieto, a third-generation piñata-maker who runs her own piñata studio. Daniel asks for her help in restoring a piñata he tried to make in the shape of himself - and also asks for her help in telling this story. Her piñatas animate the re-enactments, as dancers and rear-projection create a stage for these piñatas to bring memory, history, and emotions to life. Through this process of co-creation, Daniel confronts his loss of faith and his persisting fear of death, as both Creator and Created ponder the possible meaning you can find in a temporary life.
THE INSPIRATION
I have a long and complicated relationship with Christianity, and as I discovered in my research, so do piñatas. This film is called Piñata Prayers because it interweaves the history of this art form - which essentially began during the forced Catholic conversion of Native Mesoamericans - with my personal experience of losing the faith that long defined me.
Piñatas are an interesting art form in that they are created to be destroyed. I was raised with the belief of the afterlife - to leave this behind meant to accept that my life will end one day. I want to express the despair I felt in the process of accepting this, while also building toward a more hopeful perspective on what it means to be mortal. The idea of engaging with this theme through making piñatas was incredibly exciting to me. I love that my community chooses to celebrate life through destroying something, so I wanted to lean deeper into the tradition through this film. I also know there are many people who have lost or changed faith and it has impacted their life and sense of self deeply - I am excited to discover how the film will connect with them.
ARTISTIC APPROACH
Piñata Prayers is a creative and personal nonfiction film, exploring lost memories and faded connections in creative, emotive manners. I’m inspired by films such as Elena by Petra Costa and The Missing Picture by Rithy Panh.
The narrative of this film follows memories from my life where I was in mortal danger that show how protected I felt by faith... and how vulnerable I felt when I lost it. We bring these to life in a Black Box stage, using pulleys to arrange piñatas that dancers will interact with. We use rear projection to create “sets” for these memories, made from a combination of footage and animation. We combine these scenes with Interviews, recorded conversations, verite of piñata construction and a wealth of family photos and footage to make a film that moves between the external and internal worlds of my younger self.
Throughout the film I want the soundscape to reflect the minimal melancholy of the visual approach. Environmental textures offer echoes of reality while feeling subtly surreal, much in the way old memories and dreams do. I want the score to be at times tender and nostalgic, at times haunted and unsettling. The score will be primarily electronic, while taking some inspiration from religious music I grew up with. I want the music to reinterpret these sounds for renewed meaning.
STAGE AND TIMELINE
We are currently in post-production and looking for the final bit of funding to complete the film.
Our current budget gap is $6,388.00. These remaining funds will allow us to finish the film and send it out into the world. We were lucky to receive the 2022 Blackstar Doc Shorts Pitch Prize, which covered most of production, so we just need your help reaching the finish line. We are so close, so your help is super meaningful at this stage.
Percentage Breakdown:
.jpg)
Stretch Goals:
$1,000 - VFX Clean up
$1,000 - Spanish V.O Version
$500 - Community Screening
$1,500 - Festivals & Attendance
We hope you consider supporting our project. Thank you so much!!!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Color Grade
Costs $2,500
We are excited to play with color and push the look of our film to match our stylistic ambitions.
Distribution & Marketing
Costs $1,086
We will make captions for accessibility, and create a DCP for festivals, and commission poster art.
Sound Mix
Costs $1,000
So the movie doesn't sound terrible!
Producer Fee
Costs $802
Because producing is WORK!
GFX
Costs $500
So our credits look *pretty*! ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ
Platform Fees and Perks
Costs $500
The platform charges 5% of what we raise. The remainder is to cover the cost of creating, packaging, and shipping the perks!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Daniel Larios - Director/Producer/Writer/Editor
Daniel is a Salvadoran-American producer, director, and writer based in Los Angeles. His third short, SUPERESTAR, has played at festivals including Bentonville, NewFilmmakers LA, San Diego Latino, San Francisco Latino, and Philadelphia Latino where it won the LOLA Award. His second short film MEMORAMA (2019) played in competition at festivals including Oaxaca International, Paraguay International and ICARO International, where it won 2nd place for Best Fiction Short. Daniel was previously the Coordinator for Documentary Specialty Funds and Shorts at The Sundance Institute, where he played a part in supported films like ALL THAT BREATHES, FIRE OF LOVE, WRITING WITH FIRE, WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND and A COP MOVIE. He now works as an associate producer and field producer on feature documentaries. He won the 2022 Blackstar Doc Shorts Pitch with this short film. He is a 2022 Tomorrow's Filmmakers Today Fellow and a 2023 Sundance Collab Scholarship recipient.
Marcel Perez - Producer
Marcel is a film producer from Miami, FL, and a 1st generation Cuban-Peruvian American. His work focuses on diverse stories from different cultures, backgrounds, and LGBTQIA identities to put people of color and women at the forefront of the media. Marcel studied mechanical engineering and robotics at FIU. He learned and performed improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. He has produced three features: The Way You Look Tonight (distributed by Gravitas Ventures, Nominated for Best Feature at Cinequest Film Festival, and received the Peach Award at Atlanta Film Festival), I Before Thee (distributed by Bridgestone Multimedia). His latest feature La Leyenda Negra (Official Selection 2020 Sundance Film Festival, OutFest LA, BFI Flare, IndieLisboa, and Festival MIX Milano) is currently streaming on HBO Max/HBO Latino and was nominated for the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award as well as the GLAAD Media Award (Outstanding TV Movie) in 2021.
Brian Petillo - Co-Producer
Brian is a producer and director based in Los Angeles, CA. He has extensive experience producing and directing both commercial work independent films, including award-winning shorts like KIM MADRID (2015) and SUPERESTAR (2021), and commercial projects that can be seen on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vero, Motor Trend, Velocity, and more.
B. Ruben Mendoza - Director of Photography
Rubén Mendoza is a Salvadoran-American cinematographer from Los Angeles. Most recently he photographed the feature films PUDDYSTICKS, starring Mamoudou Athie and Dan Bakkedahl, and WE BURN LIKE THIS, which premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival and also played at Deauville Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival. He received his MFA from USC film school and was a mentee in the ASC Vision Mentorship Program under Xavier Grobet, ASC. He was a 2021 Project Involve Cinematography fellow.
Eric Armando Ibarra - Editor
Eric Armando Ibarra is a Chicano filmmaker from the Mexican border-town of Chula Vista, CA. After studying film in New York City, Eric started creating video content for places like The FADER, The Players’ Tribune and The Sundance Institute. His original work, spanning from short films to feature scripts, has been recognized by the Los Angeles International Shorts Film Festival, the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, the NYC International Screenplay Awards, and the Southern California Screenplay Competition. Eric was a fellow in Warner Bros. Discovery’s 2022 Tomorrow Filmmaker’s Today cohort. By focusing on genuine storytelling, with moments of surrealism and dark comedy, Eric shines a light on the stories about how the system fails the transborder and Chicanx communities. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he is in development for his first feature film and TV series.
Erika Soto - Choreographer/Dancer
Erika Soto is a choreographer and dancer from Laredo TX, now based in Los Angeles. Her work is informed by her Catholic bortdertown upbringing, influenced by her Mexican-American upbringing as well as her studies in contemporary dance. She has performed in numerous music videos and dance films, and has choreographed works for the Stomping Ground Indigenous/Latine Showcase in 2022 and 2023.
Sansanto - Composer
Sansanto is a Mexican-American electronic music producer and composer based in the Inland Empire. He composed the score for Arroró, directed by Annie Valdes, which was selected as part of Hola Mexico Film Festival’s Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today 2022. Their compositions move seamlessly between feelings of dread and ecstatic euphoria.
Yesenia Prieto - Piñata-maker, Participant
Yesenia Prieto is the founder of La Piñata Design studio and a third generation piñata-maker. Her work has been featured in the Howard Griffin Gallery, Music Taste Good Festival, Coachella 2019, and Craft in America. She has done custom orders for numerous celebrity clients such as Rihanna, Drake, and 2Chainz. Yesenia is Mexican-American and originally from South Central LA; her family-run studio is based in Covina, CA
Stefanie Cheung - Ceramic Artist
(for context, early piñatas were made with clay)
Stefanie Cheung is a ceramic artist from Hong Kong, based in Los Angeles. She is a member and wheel-throwing instructor at POT LA, a BIPOC owned and operated ceramics studio in Los Angeles. You can find her on IG as @toes.ceramics and also at various craft markets throughout the year around LA County, including Silverlake Flea Market, Mayumi AAPI Market, and Mystery Bazaar at Mystery Village.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The film begins with a childhood memory. Daniel, age 2, sees a piñata from across the street and runs after it - he is nearly killed by a semi-truck in the process. Adult Daniel’s narration guides us from this memory onto others, as archival and re-enactment intertwine and reveal core memories of a childhood spent both in church and smashing piñatas. The film unveils the little-known origins of the piñata and its evolution from a colonial Catholic ritual into a secular celebration of life. Daniel fears death - an ever present possibility during his teenage years living among the gang wars of El Salvador - but he ultimately believes that so long as he is faithful to God, he will live forever under his protection. Yet as he grows older and begins to question his faith, this shield begins to crack.
In the present, Daniel has since lost his faith… but not his love for piñatas. This leads him to meeting with Yesenia Prieto, a third-generation piñata-maker who runs her own piñata studio. Daniel asks for her help in restoring a piñata he tried to make in the shape of himself - and also asks for her help in telling this story. Her piñatas animate the re-enactments, as dancers and rear-projection create a stage for these piñatas to bring memory, history, and emotions to life. Through this process of co-creation, Daniel confronts his loss of faith and his persisting fear of death, as both Creator and Created ponder the possible meaning you can find in a temporary life.
THE INSPIRATION
I have a long and complicated relationship with Christianity, and as I discovered in my research, so do piñatas. This film is called Piñata Prayers because it interweaves the history of this art form - which essentially began during the forced Catholic conversion of Native Mesoamericans - with my personal experience of losing the faith that long defined me.
Piñatas are an interesting art form in that they are created to be destroyed. I was raised with the belief of the afterlife - to leave this behind meant to accept that my life will end one day. I want to express the despair I felt in the process of accepting this, while also building toward a more hopeful perspective on what it means to be mortal. The idea of engaging with this theme through making piñatas was incredibly exciting to me. I love that my community chooses to celebrate life through destroying something, so I wanted to lean deeper into the tradition through this film. I also know there are many people who have lost or changed faith and it has impacted their life and sense of self deeply - I am excited to discover how the film will connect with them.
ARTISTIC APPROACH
Piñata Prayers is a creative and personal nonfiction film, exploring lost memories and faded connections in creative, emotive manners. I’m inspired by films such as Elena by Petra Costa and The Missing Picture by Rithy Panh.
The narrative of this film follows memories from my life where I was in mortal danger that show how protected I felt by faith... and how vulnerable I felt when I lost it. We bring these to life in a Black Box stage, using pulleys to arrange piñatas that dancers will interact with. We use rear projection to create “sets” for these memories, made from a combination of footage and animation. We combine these scenes with Interviews, recorded conversations, verite of piñata construction and a wealth of family photos and footage to make a film that moves between the external and internal worlds of my younger self.
Throughout the film I want the soundscape to reflect the minimal melancholy of the visual approach. Environmental textures offer echoes of reality while feeling subtly surreal, much in the way old memories and dreams do. I want the score to be at times tender and nostalgic, at times haunted and unsettling. The score will be primarily electronic, while taking some inspiration from religious music I grew up with. I want the music to reinterpret these sounds for renewed meaning.
STAGE AND TIMELINE
We are currently in post-production and looking for the final bit of funding to complete the film.
Our current budget gap is $6,388.00. These remaining funds will allow us to finish the film and send it out into the world. We were lucky to receive the 2022 Blackstar Doc Shorts Pitch Prize, which covered most of production, so we just need your help reaching the finish line. We are so close, so your help is super meaningful at this stage.
Percentage Breakdown:
Stretch Goals:
$1,000 - VFX Clean up
$1,000 - Spanish V.O Version
$500 - Community Screening
$1,500 - Festivals & Attendance
We hope you consider supporting our project. Thank you so much!!!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Color Grade
Costs $2,500
We are excited to play with color and push the look of our film to match our stylistic ambitions.
Distribution & Marketing
Costs $1,086
We will make captions for accessibility, and create a DCP for festivals, and commission poster art.
Sound Mix
Costs $1,000
So the movie doesn't sound terrible!
Producer Fee
Costs $802
Because producing is WORK!
GFX
Costs $500
So our credits look *pretty*! ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ
Platform Fees and Perks
Costs $500
The platform charges 5% of what we raise. The remainder is to cover the cost of creating, packaging, and shipping the perks!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Daniel Larios - Director/Producer/Writer/Editor
Daniel is a Salvadoran-American producer, director, and writer based in Los Angeles. His third short, SUPERESTAR, has played at festivals including Bentonville, NewFilmmakers LA, San Diego Latino, San Francisco Latino, and Philadelphia Latino where it won the LOLA Award. His second short film MEMORAMA (2019) played in competition at festivals including Oaxaca International, Paraguay International and ICARO International, where it won 2nd place for Best Fiction Short. Daniel was previously the Coordinator for Documentary Specialty Funds and Shorts at The Sundance Institute, where he played a part in supported films like ALL THAT BREATHES, FIRE OF LOVE, WRITING WITH FIRE, WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND and A COP MOVIE. He now works as an associate producer and field producer on feature documentaries. He won the 2022 Blackstar Doc Shorts Pitch with this short film. He is a 2022 Tomorrow's Filmmakers Today Fellow and a 2023 Sundance Collab Scholarship recipient.
Marcel Perez - Producer
Marcel is a film producer from Miami, FL, and a 1st generation Cuban-Peruvian American. His work focuses on diverse stories from different cultures, backgrounds, and LGBTQIA identities to put people of color and women at the forefront of the media. Marcel studied mechanical engineering and robotics at FIU. He learned and performed improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. He has produced three features: The Way You Look Tonight (distributed by Gravitas Ventures, Nominated for Best Feature at Cinequest Film Festival, and received the Peach Award at Atlanta Film Festival), I Before Thee (distributed by Bridgestone Multimedia). His latest feature La Leyenda Negra (Official Selection 2020 Sundance Film Festival, OutFest LA, BFI Flare, IndieLisboa, and Festival MIX Milano) is currently streaming on HBO Max/HBO Latino and was nominated for the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award as well as the GLAAD Media Award (Outstanding TV Movie) in 2021.
Brian Petillo - Co-Producer
Brian is a producer and director based in Los Angeles, CA. He has extensive experience producing and directing both commercial work independent films, including award-winning shorts like KIM MADRID (2015) and SUPERESTAR (2021), and commercial projects that can be seen on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vero, Motor Trend, Velocity, and more.
B. Ruben Mendoza - Director of Photography
Rubén Mendoza is a Salvadoran-American cinematographer from Los Angeles. Most recently he photographed the feature films PUDDYSTICKS, starring Mamoudou Athie and Dan Bakkedahl, and WE BURN LIKE THIS, which premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival and also played at Deauville Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival. He received his MFA from USC film school and was a mentee in the ASC Vision Mentorship Program under Xavier Grobet, ASC. He was a 2021 Project Involve Cinematography fellow.
Eric Armando Ibarra - Editor
Eric Armando Ibarra is a Chicano filmmaker from the Mexican border-town of Chula Vista, CA. After studying film in New York City, Eric started creating video content for places like The FADER, The Players’ Tribune and The Sundance Institute. His original work, spanning from short films to feature scripts, has been recognized by the Los Angeles International Shorts Film Festival, the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, the NYC International Screenplay Awards, and the Southern California Screenplay Competition. Eric was a fellow in Warner Bros. Discovery’s 2022 Tomorrow Filmmaker’s Today cohort. By focusing on genuine storytelling, with moments of surrealism and dark comedy, Eric shines a light on the stories about how the system fails the transborder and Chicanx communities. He currently resides in Los Angeles where he is in development for his first feature film and TV series.
Erika Soto - Choreographer/Dancer
Erika Soto is a choreographer and dancer from Laredo TX, now based in Los Angeles. Her work is informed by her Catholic bortdertown upbringing, influenced by her Mexican-American upbringing as well as her studies in contemporary dance. She has performed in numerous music videos and dance films, and has choreographed works for the Stomping Ground Indigenous/Latine Showcase in 2022 and 2023.
Sansanto - Composer
Sansanto is a Mexican-American electronic music producer and composer based in the Inland Empire. He composed the score for Arroró, directed by Annie Valdes, which was selected as part of Hola Mexico Film Festival’s Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today 2022. Their compositions move seamlessly between feelings of dread and ecstatic euphoria.
Yesenia Prieto - Piñata-maker, Participant
Yesenia Prieto is the founder of La Piñata Design studio and a third generation piñata-maker. Her work has been featured in the Howard Griffin Gallery, Music Taste Good Festival, Coachella 2019, and Craft in America. She has done custom orders for numerous celebrity clients such as Rihanna, Drake, and 2Chainz. Yesenia is Mexican-American and originally from South Central LA; her family-run studio is based in Covina, CA
Stefanie Cheung - Ceramic Artist
(for context, early piñatas were made with clay)
Stefanie Cheung is a ceramic artist from Hong Kong, based in Los Angeles. She is a member and wheel-throwing instructor at POT LA, a BIPOC owned and operated ceramics studio in Los Angeles. You can find her on IG as @toes.ceramics and also at various craft markets throughout the year around LA County, including Silverlake Flea Market, Mayumi AAPI Market, and Mystery Bazaar at Mystery Village.