Comparsa

After a decade of writing documentaries such as The Social Dilemma and Chasing Coral, I am taking a deliberate, collaborative approach to my first turn as director. Comparsa is born entirely from personal connection and a shared theory of change. My longtime friend and Comparsa’s producer, Anna Hadingham, has spent over ten years living and working alongside our film’s subjects, producing public performances as a method for grassroots organizing. After nearly a decade of hearing about Anna’s exceptional artist conspirators in Guatemala, Doug and I decided to go to Peronia and see for ourselves.

Meeting Lesli and Lupe on our first day in Peronia set us on a five-year-long journey to shine a light on the fear and danger many young women live with each day, as well as the joyful and effective methods these girls have developed for sewing the seeds of change. As women and as artists, we developed an easy and collaborative approach to capturing the story. We believe the collaborative nature of our process bleeds into the style and tone of the film itself.

Comparsa relies on intimate scenes with our characters to paint a picture of a place and a group of people working to transcend the traumas of a racist, sexist, extractive system. We mix vérité and interview moments with more ethereal sequences that highlight the magical, mythical nature of Lesli and Lupe’s art. Layered with passages of our characters’ original poetry, these sections underscore the surreal way their lives fluctuate between joy and sorrow, braiding their artwork into the fabric of the film.

We intend the substance and style of Comparsa to resonate with audiences that are hungry for a joyful model of changemaking. Unlike films about the developing world that stay mired in harsh problems or posit external solutions from foreign savior figures, Comparsa highlights local youth artists forging a better future through their own creative action. It serves as a narrative disruption to purely negative portrayals of Central Americans and young people, replacing those damaging stories with Lesli and Lupe’s bold and subversive vision for changemaking. It is exuberant, poetic, and visually stunning. As the oldest of a pair of sisters, and as a mother to two daughters of my own, I believe this story of sisterhood will resonate with women and their allies throughout the Americas.