Experiencing Interruptions?

Colada

The staff at an old school Cuban diner are forced to decide between their political rhetoric and their conscience when ICE comes to arrest the undocumented Venezuelan busboy.

  • Carmen Pelaez
    Director
  • Carmen Pelaez
    Writer
  • Carolina Sabrina Caruso
    Producer
  • Hector Martinez
    Producer
  • Carmen Pelaez
    Producer
  • Mario Guerra
    Key Cast
    "Pancho"
  • Beatriz Valdes
    Key Cast
    "Elsa"
  • Carlos Fabian Medina
    Key Cast
    "Darwin"
  • Caleb Scott
    Key Cast
    "Brett"
  • Victor Acevedo
    co-producers
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Colada
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Dramady, Latino
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 9 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    14,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Arri Mini
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Miami Film Festival
    Miami
    United States
    April 12, 2026
    World
    Special Jury Mention MIA shorts
  • Miami
    United States
    April 12, 2026
    World
    Special Jury Mention
Director Biography - Carmen Pelaez

2012 Winner of the HBO NYLFF Short Film Competition with The Acting Lesson which she followed up with her second short, A Queen Without His Crown. In 2020 she received an honorable mention at the 2020 Miami International Film Festival for her short film, Mango Season and was commissioned by Oolite to create the short doc Caridad y Gallo as part of their Close Quarters Series. A Macdowell fellow, in 2023 she was awarded an Ellie to create her newest short film, Colada. Currently she is developing the her first feature length film, Caridad.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As a writer and filmmaker, I look to capture those odd moments where laughter and devastation live in the same breath. Using this narrative, I can approach audiences as a wolf in sheep’s clothing with the hopes of taking a huge bite out of what they think they know, in hopes of moving the conversation from policy to humanity by reminding audiences of what it was like when they first arrived to the US.

Considering what our country is going through right now, I want audiences to see themselves in these characters and walk away with a renewed sense of possibility and ownership of how they can protect our communities which have been built by and flourished thanks to the courage and character of immigrants.

Colada is in Spanish and English with bilingual subtitles and reflects what’s happening every day in Miami—quietly as opposed to the other ‘blue’ cities where the arrests and assaults are much more blatant and violent. The banality of it all however, equally brutal. But not devoid of opportunity for us to show up for each other.