Más Allá
MÁS ALLÁ is a coming-of-innocence tale about a young girl who guides migrants through a stretch of the Darien Gap – a virgin jungle between Colombia and Panamá, which has become a footpath for human migration. Forced to abandon her childhood to survive this treacherous place, Zuli works for a coyote who exploits her with false promises. But when she stumbles on a portal which transports her to a magical land, Zuli is driven to reconnect with her innocence and her imagination, ultimately learning to be a kid again.
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Bettina López MendozaWriterMiraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie, PREVIA: A Tech Heist (podcast)
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Bettina López MendozaDirectorPREVIA: A Tech Heist (podcast)
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Marilyne LamontagneProducerD for Daughter, Everything Else, Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie, Heirloom
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Camilo Monsalve OssaDirector of PhotographyThe City of Wild Beasts, Unidentified Objects, Water and Garri
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Abiram BrizuelaComposerMiki Maniaco, Femme
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Tim StipanColoristJojo Rabbit, The Greatest Showman, Deadpool, Black Swan
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Miguel Araujo MPSESupervising Sound EditorLonglegs, Reacher, The Crowded Room, Superman & Lois, A Million Little Things
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Mónica SalazarEditorBardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Honey Boy, Sick Girl
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Project Title (Original Language):Más Allá
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Drama, fantasy
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Runtime:15 minutes 18 seconds
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Completion Date:July 29, 2024
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Production Budget:75,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
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Country of Filming:Colombia
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Language:English, Spanish
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Shooting Format:Digital, Arri Alexa 35
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
Bettina is a Venezuelan storyteller and filmmaker.
Having spent her childhood moving across borders, first to Mexico then to the United States, Bettina has always been fascinated by reality as a subjective construct. Her work often centers on overlooked or forgotten characters who challenge their own realities and the limits the world imposes on them. Despite her stories being grounded, she readily employs magical realism to connect with the audience in unexpected ways.
After graduating from the University of Southern California, she worked with and mentored under director Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman"). It was during this time that Bettina learned how to push the limits of cinematic storytelling through visual language.
Most recently, Bettina served as a co-writer on the animated film “Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie” (Netflix 2023), and the writer-director of Ambie Award winning fiction podcast “PREVIA: A Tech Heist” (Audible 2023), starring Alan Cumming and Melissa Fumero.
The journey of making this short film began a few years ago when I came across a video of two young boys diving into a drain on the side of a highway in my home country of Venezuela. In the video, the boys indulge in this dangerous game with total abandon. To them, this 3x4 foot pothole is a luxury swimming pool, or better yet, a vast ocean. It is freedom; escape from reality. I imagined with them. I imagined that when their bodies hit the water, they were being transported somewhere better – somewhere magical – somewhere they wanted to go back to again and again.
Later, as the migration crisis in the Darien Gap grew seemingly out of control, and countless images of children emerged, many lost, abandoned, or separated from loved ones, I couldn’t help but think of those boys and their imagination. What if I could give all those lost kids their sense of wonder back? What if I could whisk them away to Peter Pan’s Neverland? And so, the idea of a coming-of-innocence tale emerged.
Inspired by children's capacity to find joy in the most ordinary, sometimes devastating places, this film reframes migration not as an act of desperation but as one of bold imagination. It’s a love letter to the children within all of us, and an ode to all of those who have ever been brave enough to imagine a better life.