We are proud to have partnered with Toyota Camry as the title sponsor for this year’s Hola Mexico Film Festival, bringing incredible opportunities to spotlight the best of Mexican and Latinx talent. As part of their partnership, Toyota Camry commissioned a unique short film made exclusively for the festival by acclaimed filmmaker Sofía Garza-Barba, capturing the spirit of creativity and the power of storytelling through a memorable on-screen journey.

Sofía Garza-Barba, a celebrated Latinx ARTivist and multidisciplinary writer/director, brings her signature style and vivid imagination to this project. Inspired by the idea that many great stories start inside a car, she crafts a story about the creative process itself—where a filmmaker’s characters come alive during a drive in her Toyota Camry, debating which story should be pitched. This collaboration reflects Toyota Camry’s commitment to supporting diverse voices and offering a platform for creative expression.

This micro-short film was produced with an all-Latinx cast and crew, highlighting the importance of representation both in front of and behind the camera. The project features influencers Alicia and Alexa Montes, alongside a talented cast of actors, all coming together to celebrate the power of Mexican and Latinx storytelling.

Learn more about the filmmaker and get an inside look at the method and discover what they had to say about their creative process:

BIO:

Sofía Garza-Barba is a Latinx ARTivist and multidisciplinary genre-bending writer/director that lurks in the rainbows and shadows of imagination. Her stories blend cultures and genres that tend to be driven by childhood innocence or enhanced personal memories that almost feel like fantasies. They’re colorful, dreamy and highly art driven, yet at the same time grounded in the realness of feelings.  Her work has been awarded or shown on festivals like Fantasia, Rotterdam, SITGES, Cinequest, GIFF, LALIFF, Hola Mexico, Woodstock, Out On Film, Hollyshorts and Bentonville. In 2024, her film Peccadillo was nominated at the Imagen Awards. She’s a Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative mentee, a Fellow Director of the CDDP Diversity Program, HBO’s Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today emerging director and a 2022 AWD director for Directing the Actor Lab. Sofia is managed by Circle of Confusion and continues her path of telling stories that make people feel alive.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROJECT:

When Samuel Douek asked me if I’d be interested in submitting a short film idea, including the Toyota Camry, there was no question about it that I wanted to be part of this opportunity. The idea came to me quickly, as I tend to craft my film ideas when I drive. I wanted to make sure other creatives like me, could relate as they saw this on the screen.

Rumors say that big ideas tend to start in a garage… but I bet a lot of filmmakers will agree with me, that they start inside a car.  When it comes to brainstorming stories and scripts, a car becomes the protector of a filmmakers universe. It’s a sacred space where we think, dream and envision endless possibilities. It’s where we build our characters, and converse with them before their words go onto a page. In this micro short, a filmmaker is invited to pitch her top stories at a festival, and as she embarks her journey in her Toyota Camry, her inner voice pops into the car with her, along with numerous characters from her scripts. As her inner voice helps her determine what story to pick, the characters interact in the backseat, fighting for a chance to get picked and pitched.

Our crew was made of mostly Female and Latinx talent, and our cast were all from the Latinx community. It is important for me as a writer/director to put representation in front and behind the screen no matter what project it is. Some of our cast includes talented influencers Alicia and Alexa Montes, Virginia Novello, Mick Garcia, Gisel Murillo, Noel Mena, Enrique Quintero and Birdie Ramirez. This was produced by James McLean and me.  (Production company Espina Blanca Productions, and Black Bay Entertainment)