LAS CATAS

Las Catas is an experimental animation exploring motherhood, femininity and the gender binary through a queer Latinx lens. It challenges traditional notions of family, identity and cultural narratives by blending personal history with speculative storytelling. Structured around imagined meetings with astrologer Walter Mercado, the video delves into the filmmaker's childhood memories, specifically those of his mother and the tensions around their shared interests. To defy the isolation of his childhood, the filmmaker adds missing context to his memories. He inserts himself and his young nephews as stand-ins in scenes with an army of chosen mothers. These scenes of peace and comfort assembled from the queer archive highlight histories which were not directly accessible to him during his youth. All together, these contrasting vignettes form an idealized account of his childhood. With scenes ranging from his migration from Mexico to California in his mother’s belly, hanging out with an introspective Venus Xtravaganza and an epic vogue battle between Tati Miyake Mugler and Popocatéptl, the video challenges heteronormative assumptions about family structures by celebrating possibilities that have always existed in our culture. The filmmaker presents a reparative, more expansive vision of his past in order to imagine a more inclusive and radical future.