BlackStar Film Festival

Press & Industry: Aquarius Shorts

Available in 23d 17h 11m 44s
Available August 3, 2026 12:00 PM UTC
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Placemaking through water.

Ixquic, an Indigenous teenager from Guatemala, grows up listening to her mother’s stories about ancestral Mayan beings and the fireflies that once lit the nights of their land. While her mother fights to defend their river from a hydroelectric company threatening their community, Ixquic rejects these stories and believes in the promises of modern progress. But one night, the river turns to blood, and serpents appear in the darkness. Confronted with an ancestral force she cannot escape, Ixquic must face the darkness within her and decide whether to deny her origins or embrace the fire of her identity.

  • Year
    2025
  • Runtime
    25 minutes
  • Language
    Spanish, Poqomchi', K'ekchi'
  • Country
    Guatemala
  • Premiere
    United States
  • Genre
    Short Narrative
  • Content Warning
    Flashing lights: 21:26-22:00, Four brief moments of subtle laser light effects
  • Social Media
  • Director
    Elvis Caj
  • Screenwriter
    Elvis Caj
  • Producer
    Isha Sumner, Benjamín Sagüí
  • Executive Producer
    Elvis Caj
  • Cast
    Valentina Juárez "Ixquic", Alba Patricia Si "Marcela", Ximena Rodas Caj "Ixchel"
  • Cinematographer
    Juan Carlos H. Villarreal
  • Editor
    Elvis Caj, Alejandro Sánchez, Moises Garriga
  • Production Design
    Sophy Ramírez
  • Composer
    Isaac Hernández Campos
  • Sound Design
    Carlos Marroquín
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