Genre
Synopsis
A decade after losing her 12-year-old daughter Fátima to a brutal feminicide and fleeing her home in a small town in Mexico, Lorena camps out in front of the National Palace to demand an audience with the country’s first female president, seeking justice within a corrupt system that preys on thousands of women and girls each year. Through Lorena, we will also meet other families fighting for both healing and change. We understand that Lorena’s story is sadly not unique; these families will help us represent the stories of the thousands of women and girls who have been lost to feminicide in Mexico.
Bio
Dawn Valadez is a Xicana, disabled, queer filmmaker and artist dedicated to telling powerful stories that center BIPOC, Latine, queer, women, and disabled communities. She is co-directing Querida Fátima with Colectiva Varinia. The project won Best Picture, Best Director, and the Audience Award at the Guadalajara International Film Festival im April 2026. Her film The Pushouts (with Galloway, 2018), won the 2019 Imagen Best Documentary Award, and has worked as a co-producer on Hummingbirds (Castaños & Contreras, 2023), and a consulting producer on The Dao of Thao (Nguyen, 2026), and Manzinar, Diverted (Kaneko, 2021). She is a producer on An Everyday Riot, about the incredible life of Urvashi Vaid by Nancy Kates (production) and Vivien’s Wild Ride, (Vivien Hilgrove, 2025). Her work has been supported by Ford Foundation/Just Films, Sundance, and Tribeca All Access. She is a board member of the Berkeley Film Foundation and the Disability Media Alliance. She is the BAVC Media Director of Artist and Workforce Development and the Co-Director of the Media Maker Fellowship.
Awards History
DocLands Pitch 2024 - Jury Prize
