“Ah! Do you know about the world of vaqueros?,” Daniel Eduvijes Carrera asks me at one point during the interview.
Yes, I was familiar. Years ago, we had written about these bars where gay Latinos, mostly immigrants, go to dance to traditional Mexican music, wearing their iconic hats, jeans, checkered shirts, and dazzling boots.
“The first time I experienced it was in Mexico City, in a bar where I walked in and was surprised to see ordinary men dancing to popular music. They looked like my dad. I hadn’t seen that in the United States before,” Carrera tells me in a conversation about his film El Paisa, which is being featured as part of the East L.A. Film Festival program.
Daniel wasn’t a stranger to the world of cinema; he had a few projects under his belt and was exploring more topics for his future endeavors.
Talking with Carrera can be intimidating. Reading his biography online might paint him as one of those new voices in nouveau cinéma, a rebellious and outspoken guy. None of that was apparent when I heard his voice on the other end of the phone.
“Making a film is the closest thing to therapy,” he tells me about one of his reasons for making this short film. “A friend had asked me why I hadn’t made a film about gay themes, and I asked myself the same question, and that’s how El Paisa was born,” he shares with Parriva.
Daniel Eduvijes Carrera with producer Miguel Angel Caballero, accompanied by legendary director Randal Kleiser. (credit @outfest)
The specialized film site, IMDB, defines him this way:
“Daniel Eduvijes Carrera is among the most accomplished new voices in American Latino filmmaking. His work has screened at the Tribeca, Guadalajara, Morelia, Huesca, and Los Angeles Film Festivals, at numerous art museums, and on international television broadcasts. He is the winner of the Imagen Foundation Award, Top Prize winner in Ovation TV’s ‘Search for the Next Revolutionary Filmmaker,’ and was recognized as Best Latino Film Director by the Directors Guild of America Student Film Awards”… and many more accolades.
Daniel laughs when I share this with him; recognition doesn’t affect him, nor does it define him.
“I can say that the filming of El Paisa served as a personal process for me; I answered many questions about my sexuality, my personality, my culture, my doubts,” he adds.
El Paisa tells the story of Fernando, portrayed by Cristian Urbina, a young Latino on the streets of East L.A., who is rescued from harassment by some local gang members by a gay vaquero. The appearance of Carmelo, the character played by Daniel Ty Reza, not only helps Fernando accept his sexual preference but also his cultural identity.
For the movie premiere in Los Angeles a few months ago, he invited his mom, Ernestina Carrera, to the event. “She loved it! She already knew, but I don’t think she had any idea I made movies or that it would be shown in such a big cinema. She was dazzled. She felt like ‘La Reina de la Noche!'” he mentions.
In one of the scenes, mesmerized by Carmelo, the vaquero, a character elegantly dressed in white with a handsome mustache, enters a bar similar to the ones in Mexico. Fernando decides to explore this place. There, he is confronted by Carmelo, and in an intelligent dialogue, he is told without words that there are men from all walks of life there.
“If you notice, in the movie, I never use the word gay. Not in this scene nor when Fernando invites his mother to the same bar to dance with him,” he adds.
“It’s a coming-out story, you could say partly mine, not just about sexuality but also about culture. I wanted to celebrate our history, our traditions,” he adds.
Daniel comes from a family from Durango, ‘gente del rancho’ who, although aware of his identity, prefer not to talk about it.
“You know, it’s like those stories, we know, but it’s better left unspoken,” he adds.
For the movie premiere in Los Angeles a few months ago, he invited his mom to the event.
“She loved it! She already knew, but I don’t think she had any idea I made movies or that it would be shown in such a big cinema. She was dazzled. She felt like ‘la Reina de la Noche!’” he mentions.
El Paisa features original music; Daniel was very careful in finding that perfect sound that would fit his story. Every week he went to La Cita on a day they called Cumbia Fever, and there he found Ricky Garay, who guided him and ended up composing the soundtrack. The group is called Los Tigres del Acordeón.
The script had been brewing for a year, wanting to ask what it meant to be gay in a rural setting.
“I had filmed two previous projects, but they had tragedies; it was time to do something else,” he says.
The first satisfaction have already come his way, in abundance. The movie, brilliantly produced by Miguel Angel Caballero, has already made an impact on many.
“Once, a guy messaged me accusing me of stealing his story. That’s when I realized my experiences weren’t just mine; there are others who have lived them too. I replied, ‘I’m going to send you photos of when I was your age, so you can see how much we look alike. I was the rocker kid who didn’t know where he was going too,'” he says.
In the end, Ernesta, Fernando’s mom, a role played by Rocío López, says in the bar: “Ay’mijo, I think you’re finally trying to tell me something.”
And thus, Daniel, in El Paisa, is finally telling us something.
NOTE: The movie was partly funded by Latino Public Broadcasting and will be distributed through LPB/PBS channels in 2024. The film reflects the diversity of queer Latinx immigrant communities in Los Angeles.
Juan Escobedo: “A good filmmaker leaves you thinking after you watch a movie.”
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