Griselda
Comedy, Short Films, 14-Sep-2022
In this subversive mockumentary, a queer Latine new media performance artist is interviewed by a “woke” magazine editor set on defining her story and the meanings of her art. “Griselda,” directed by Denisse Griselda Reyes, tackles a host of themes related to identity, aesthetics, and Christian iconography with a multi-disciplinary approach and a scoffing attitude. Reyes stars as her alter-ego, Griselda, an indignant iconoclast armed with inherited trauma and a vicious sense of humor. The film is both a visual CV, and a refusal to be characterized. Griselda treats the interrogation with a weaponized smile/grimace, offering prickly non-answers and offensive metaphors. It seems Griselda would rather just get high, turn down the lights, and dance with a fidget spinner. Or roam through NYC, gyrating in galleries, mimicking sex acts, sneezing near a Jackson Pollock painting, or performing in Times Square as the Virgin Mary. For all its confrontations, the film reaches a surprisingly sincere closing point as Griselda takes to the park to paint portraits of children and tourists. -KA. Director: Denisse Griselda Reyes. Written by: Denisse Griselda Reyes, Ricky Sallay Zoker. Cast: Denisse Griselda Reyes, Kyla M-A. Director of Photography: Paul W. Sauline. Editor: Portia Lundie, Denisse Griselda Reyes. Producers: Denisse Griselda Reyes, Portia Lundie. Animated by: Denisse Griselda Reyes.