Semana Santa follows the Mojica family as they navigate the role of Catholicism in their lives. Told from a multi-generational perspective, the film explores how this bi-cultural family translates tradition in their own unique ways.
Semana Santa follows the Mojica family as they navigate the role of Catholicism in their lives. Told from a multi-generational perspective, the film explores how this bi-cultural family translates tradition in their own unique ways.
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Story
Mission Statement
My creative work seeks to represent and reimagine communities of color within the visual media landscape. Expanding Latinx representation on screen is one of my top priorities. Centering a Mexican-American family, Semana Santa represents the type of stories that are important for me to tell.About The Project
Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a short film that revolves around a young Catholic(ish) Mexican-American family, Mom, Dad, and their child Junior, as they take home their parish’s communal crucifix for a week under the pressure of the family’s devout matriarch, Grandma. This tradition involves a nightly rosario (a series of lengthy prayers) that puts a strain on the mostly secular family as they grapple with how to fit Catholicism into their lives.
Contemplative and introspective, Semana Santa is a meditation on religiosity in Mexican cultural tradition and one kid's quest to find their voice. The film explores the ways we pass down cultural values from one generation to the next, and how these values are translated and perceived by US-born youth. At its core, the film explores questions of assimilation and tradition, which are central to the immigrant experience.
Winner of the inaugural Story Forge competition, Semana Santa enjoys the generous support of Eleven 04 Productions. Semana Santa was also awarded an individual artist grant from the Illinois Arts Council to help bring this project to life. However, we still need your support in order to meet our fundraising goals and make this film!
At this point, we've secured some of our key creatives, who you can get to know below! After our fundraising campaing we will secure our talented cast and schedule our 3-day production in mid-June.
Post-production will take place in the summer of 2021 with an anticipated premiere date of late-August 2021.
The symbolic features of Latinx Catholic expression provide opportunities to explore the literary genre of magical realism in the cinematography. Junior's perception of religious iconography offer spaces to get visually inventive and creative.
We draw inspiration from films like Pan's Labyrinth for its use of highly stylized visuals, and The Scent of Green Papayas for it's introspective pace.
The aesthetic of the film will be nostaglic, with crunchy contrast, saturated colors and highly expressive lenses to reference 90s era family photography.
Making a movie is not cheap!
The funds that we gather from this campaign will go into multiple facets of our production: hiring cast and crew, catering, locations, equipment, and insurance, among others.
With your contributions, we will be able to achieve the production value and quality this project deserves.
The safety of our cast and crew is of the utmost importance, therefore, our production follows all local and federal COVID-19 regulations to ensure the safety of all people involved in our production. All cast and crew will be required to take the COVID-19 test before getting on set. During production, everyone will be required to wear a mask and maintain at least 6ft distance between each other whenever possible. We will also keep a strict log of personnel on set for any future possible contact tracing. We will continue to monitor any updates on the pandemic, and adjust our compliance accordingly.
Thank you for visiting our campaign! Your support means a lot to us. Even if you are not able to support us financially, we would still appreciate it if you can help us spread the word among your networks.
Incentives
$15
Baptism
Because of your pledge we are one step closer to bringing Semana Santa to life. We'll be shouting you out on social media!
$25
Communion
Thanks for making a pledge! We'll be sending you a special doodle created by our amazing Director!
And all the previous incentives!
$50
Confirmation
Wow! Thank you for believing in us! I would like to confirm with you that you will be receiving a digital copy of "Semana Santa" once completed.
And all the previous incentives!
$100
Confession
Thanks for the pledge! We must confess, we'll be sending you a signed behind the scenes polaroid picture of Semana Santa!
And all the previous incentives!
$250
Special Family Video Reward
LIMITED: Give us no more than 30 minutes of your family home video, and we will edit it into a 30-second short film to share your family story on our social media.
And all the previous incentives!
Claimed: 0 of 5
$250
The Choir
Similar to a choir, filmmaking takes a whole team of people with different skills to bring a script to life! We will have a thirty minute Q+A with the filmmakers to answer any questions you may have about our production or filmmaking in general! We'll send you a private zoom link!
And all the previous incentives!
$500
Agnostic
Are you on the fence? That's fine! But please believe for pledging this amount you'll be invited to a virtual set visit. We will live stream one of the production days and invite you via a private zoom link!
And all the previous incentives!
$1,000
Atheist
You are an Angel! Sent from above...or whereever. Either way, you will receive Associate Producer Credit! Much deserved!
And all the previous incentives!
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Wishlist
Use the WishList to pledge cash and loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an incentive directly.
$15
Baptism
Because of your pledge we are one step closer to bringing Semana Santa to life. We'll be shouting you out on social media!
$25
Communion
Thanks for making a pledge! We'll be sending you a special doodle created by our amazing Director!
And all the previous incentives!
$50
Confirmation
Wow! Thank you for believing in us! I would like to confirm with you that you will be receiving a digital copy of "Semana Santa" once completed.
And all the previous incentives!
$100
Confession
Thanks for the pledge! We must confess, we'll be sending you a signed behind the scenes polaroid picture of Semana Santa!
And all the previous incentives!
$250
Special Family Video Reward
LIMITED: Give us no more than 30 minutes of your family home video, and we will edit it into a 30-second short film to share your family story on our social media.
And all the previous incentives!
Claimed: 0 of 5
$250
The Choir
Similar to a choir, filmmaking takes a whole team of people with different skills to bring a script to life! We will have a thirty minute Q+A with the filmmakers to answer any questions you may have about our production or filmmaking in general! We'll send you a private zoom link!
And all the previous incentives!
$500
Agnostic
Are you on the fence? That's fine! But please believe for pledging this amount you'll be invited to a virtual set visit. We will live stream one of the production days and invite you via a private zoom link!
And all the previous incentives!
$1,000
Atheist
You are an Angel! Sent from above...or whereever. Either way, you will receive Associate Producer Credit! Much deserved!
And all the previous incentives!
- Updates
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Current Team
About This Team
Christian Mejía
Writer/Director
Christian Mejía is a filmmaker whose work revolves around the themes of migration, family, memory, gender, and religion within Latinx culture. He is the writer and director of Born & Raised, a digital series exploring gentrification from the perspective of long-term residents of a working-class Latinx community. His credits as a director of photography include the feature film Suniland Inn, docuseries America in Transition, and shorts/web-series Quare Life, Rabbits, Night Night, Katie Cruel, Big Mia, HIVE, and Searching for Isabelle, which won “Best Cinematography” at the Blue Stocking Film Festival.
Judy Febles
Producer
Judy Febles is an independent filmmaker based out of Chicago. Her short films have been featured in film festivals all over the world. Most recently, Firstness, a feature film she produced premiered at Portland International Film Festival. Drawing from personal experiences as Queer, Latinx, an Iraq War Veteran, and a first generation American, Febles seeks to deptict the unique intersections that encompass her identity. Being the first in her family to graduate college, she believes in honoring multifarious narratives, and the power of storytelling as a means to revolutionize society.
Richard Song
Exec. Producer
Born & raised in China, Richard is now a producer, cinematographer, and entrepreneur based in Chicago. He started his own equipment rental house Eleven04 in 2016, and his own commercial production company, Toasty Video in 2020. He loves to explore the cultural differences between the US and China, as well as studying the modern Asian American culture. Richard wants to create an inclusive environment for Asian filmmakers to thrive and tell stories that are authentic to their own identities and cultures.
Grecia Aguilar
Assistant Director
Grecia Aguilar is Mexican-American writer, director that focuses on human connection and identity. Her short films have been screened in festivals across the country. Grecia has worked in various roles in the industry as a first assistant director, script supervisor, and most recently for the new Apple TV show, Dickinson. Currently, Grecia is working on her first feature film about her Mexican-American roots in the streets of Pilsen, Chicago.
Natalie Bonanno
Production Designer
Raised in Charlotte, North Carolina by Mexican & Uruguayan parents, Natalie often turned to films and visual art to feel more connected to her cultural roots. This brought her to Columbia College Chicago where she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Filmmaking, with a concentration in Production Design. Natalie’s design work has been screened at national and international film festivals including the Chicago International Film Festival, SCAD Savannah Film Festival, the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Chicago Latino Film Festival, and many more.
Jonathan Lopez
Director of Photography
Born & raised in the south side of Chicago, Jonathan Lopez is a Cinematographer whose work aims to capture honest images. He usually shoots projects that play with concepts of magical realism. He shoots music videos for a wide variety of musicians in Chicago including Gabacho, Mini Projects, Waltzer, Andrew Sa and more. A strong advocate for supporting local businesses he has also filmed commercials for Latinx brands like Casa Humilde, GenteFina and TorresOmar Jewelers. He won Best Cinematography at the Georgia Documentary Film Festival for the film Kwizera.
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