Private Project

Sundown

In a forgotten part of America, two young friends seek a brief reprieve from their travels in a rundown diner. Lost and hungry, they must learn to trust each other to manage their anxiety, as the truth of the town comes into focus. Tensions rise as the sun sets on the young couple, who have clearly overstayed their welcome.

  • Rafael Agustin
    Director
  • Rafael Agustin
    Writer
    Jane The Virgin
  • Steven Garcia
    Producer
    Josie, Submergence
  • Khadijha Red Thunder
    Key Cast
    "Jen "
    After, After We Collided
  • Emily Hall
    Key Cast
    "Lauren"
    Wrong Numbers, Cutman
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Horror, Thriller
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 46 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 24, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    50,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED Digital Cinema
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • San Luis Obispo International Film Festival
    San Luis Obispo, CA
    United States
    April 25, 2025
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Rafael Agustin

Rafael Agustín was a writer on the award-winning TV show Jane The Virgin, is the author of the bestselling memoir Illegally Yours, and is an Executive Producer of the upcoming rock documentary Los Lobos Native Sons.

In 2022, the LA Times declared Rafael a “Power Player” in their inaugural Latino trailblazers list. And in 2024, Rafael received the Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Cinema & Literature from the California Latino Legislative Caucus.

Rafael received his BA and MA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film & Television. He's a Board Member of the Center for Investigative Reporting, which publishes Mother Jones and Reveal, and of the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress. Rafael is a past Sundance Institute Fellow.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When I was still a playwright touring the United States with other artists of color, we accidentally ended up lost in a small backwoods’ town on our way from Indiana to Illinois. Our interactions with the locals were... interesting. When we arrived at our destination and described to our presenter the town we were in, he pointedly stated: “Oh, you were in a sundown town.” Thus, began my decade-and-a-half-long obsession with sundown towns (i.e. towns where you cannot be Black, Jewish, or a person of color once the sun went down), which are shockingly still active in northern states to this day. According to the book Sundown Town: A Hidden Dimension to American Racism by Jame W. Loewen, there are four-hundred active sundown towns in Illinois alone.

As a writer jumping into the director's chair for the first time, it was quite frightening. But I was deeply inspired visual work of American photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia and American filmmaker Barry Jenkins. This short film was always meant to be a thriller, but in the editing room, my editor and I discovered that I had shot a “ghost story.” And that is what this short film is to me: a story about the skeleton's we have in our American closet.