25 years since winning two awards at the Brooklyn Film Festival, Mexican director Adolfo Dávila is returning to the NYC fest with his newest film, Violentas Mariposas. It is slated to premiere at 8PM on June 4 at Wythe Hotel Cinema. Buy tickets here.
Violentas Mariposas is a vital exploration of the current social climate surrounding freedom of expression, art, injustice, and revolution. The film’s original soundtrack not only makes it that much more impressive as a true artistic collaboration, but it’s also a nod to the historical importance of music and artists in social crises.
“Violentas Mariposas tells the story of a graffiti artist and a punk singer coming of age in a country scarred by impunity, repression, and the absence of justice. From the trenches of art, they transform their rage into a collective outcry. They channel pain, fury, and loss through music, graffiti, and direct action. After suffering a brutal assault by the police, their rebellion turns into a radical journey of transformation. When justice is absent, vengeance becomes an act of faith. Visually striking and politically urgent, the film delivers a raw yet luminous reflection on the normalization of violence — and the power of art to resist it.”
Back in 2000 at BFF, Dávila won the Grand Chameleon Award and Best Experimental Short with his short film Reves. Violentas Mariposas is his first fiction feature.
“Coming back to Brooklyn feels like touching a root,” says Dávila. “But not out of nostalgia —out of clarity about who I am today, and what cinema continues to mean to me.”
Watch the thought-provoking film for yourself alongside a bunch of cool people at the screening next Wednesday.
Trailer below. See you at the screening !