LOGLINE:
In her darkest moment, a despairing Latina artist at the end of her rope considers ending it all. However, she crosses paths with a mysterious and immortal vampire that offers her a new perspective.
starring JOEY MARIE URBINA & ALEX FELIX
Written & Directed by GERARDO MARAVILLA
Produced by EVELYN ANGELICA MARTINEZ & ANN VALDES • Executive Producer SARAH FLOCKEN & ROBERT C. RODRIGUEZ
Dir. of Photography MARISCELA BEATRÍZ MÉNDEZ • Production Designer BRISA VILLARREAL • Editor AGUSTIN REXACH
Original Score SANSANTO • VFX Supervisors VICTOR VELASCO & GINARIS SARRA
Director's Statement
As a Mexican-American filmmaker, I illuminate the shadows in our lives through powerful storytelling and vivid imagery, challenging audiences to confront uncomfortable truths and embrace the complexity of the human experience.
Growing up, I fell in love with classic horror movies and saw myself in the characters. They were more than just monsters, they were creatures who yearned to be understood.
Movie monsters expanded my emotional perspective and crystalized one of my core missions in life: to understand others in the hopes that they would want to understand me.
“Vivir” is a story that continues my life’s mission. Through the horror genre, I aim to shed light on my own struggles with mental health while also providing a platform to showcase my Latine community in a genre where we are often underrepresented. It fills me with such pride to say that cast and crew were overwhelmingly from Latine backgrounds.
At then end of the day, we all want to be seen. "Vivir" seeks to emphasize the universal desire for acknowledgment and recognition, whether one is Latine, an artist, or even a vampire.
Joey Marie Urbina as 'Vera'
Joey Marie Urbina is a Mexican American, stage-trained actress and singer from Houston, Texas. Urbina graduated from Texas State University's BFA Acting Program. Most recently, she is coming off a 3-season major recurring guest star role in the critically acclaimed FX series, SNOWFALL. Joey also showcased her talent as MAYA in the award-winning short film MASKS, which took home Best Drama as well as both the Critics' and Audience Choice Awards at the 2018 NBCUniversal Short Film Festival.
Alex Felix as 'Renata'
Alex Felix is an up and coming young actress originally from Northern California. Originally pursuing international politics, Alex graduated from Duke University and began her journey in the creative performance space.
Alex can be seen in a recurring role on Netflix’s hit show NEVER HAVE I EVER which won the People’s Choice Award for Best Comedy three years in a row. Additionally, she recently recurred in Disney+‘s cult favorite GOOSEBUMPS. In addition to television, Alex can be seen in lead roles in independent films such as SAVE ME! and BACK TO LYLA. Her latest short film, LAST DAYS OF THE LAB, premiered at Tribeca and is Oscar qualifying.
Writer/Director
Gerardo 'Gerry' Maravilla is a Mexican-American writer/director based in Los Angeles. The bicultural lovechild of Tim Burton and Guillermo Del Toro, Gerardo tells supernatural stories with heart.
He’s been a Latino Inclusion Fellow, a fellow in Film Independent's Project Involve, the New York Film Festival's Artist Academy, Hola Mexico’s Tomorrow's Filmmakers Today, the Cine Qua Non Storylines Lab, and the Stowe Story Labs.
His work has screened at festivals such as Palm Springs ShortFest, the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival, and many others.
Producer
Evelyn Angelica Martinez is a queer first-gen Mexican-American filmmaker and producer based out of LosAngeles. She is a 2022 SFFILM Rainin Grant Fellow and was part of the Producing Track for the Film Independent Project Involve cohort in 2021 where she was selected as the Participant Media Fellow.
Evelyn has also produced content for brands such as Apple, Interscope, and TikTok. Previously she was part of the team at Lawrence Bender Productions (KILL BILL, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS), Quebrada Entertainment, and NALIP (National Association of Latino Independent Producers).
Producer
Born, raised and based in Los Angeles, Ann Valdés is a Cuban-American producer and filmmaker.
Ann has received two LA Emmy nominations for her work at PBS. In 2020, she was named one of NALIP’s EmergingContent Creators and was part of the Hola Mexico FilmFestival’s Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today cohort in 2022.
Ann has produced programming for PBS, Meta, Discovery Channel, and TLC.