LA PEQUEÑA MUERTE
Pedro Lavin / Mexico / 2023 / 7 min.
Included in VISIONS OF LOVE Short Film Program – Sunday Nov 12 at 5 pm – Buy Tickets
In this visual poem set in contemporary Mexico, two lovers share an afternoon of passion as an ancient deity from their dreams performs an orgiastic dance that mirrors their ecstasy. The spirit visitor, known only as the Little Death, leads the couple on an oneiric journey of transformation and rapture. Heralded by strange, symbolic visions the trio come to an ecstatic climax; as the walls between reality and fantasy collapse. Like orgasm itself, the spirit’s ritual ends where it began in an infinite cycle of love, life and death. Told through magical realism and Mexican mythology, the film represents a homecoming for filmmaker Pedro Lavín who, with La Pequeña Muerte, returns to his roots to tell a story that is uniquely queer, and singularly Mexican.
Director’s Biography – Pedro Lavin
Pedro Lavin (b. 1989) is filmmaker and visual artist from Mexico City, currently living and working in NYC.
His work explores self mythology, ritual and personal pantheons; weaving magical realism and oneiric fantasy with his own lived experience to create story. This aesthetic pursuit is rooted in themes of sex, gender and desire; the metamorphotic power of nature; and the primal link between the sacred and the profane. With an extensive background in creative direction for film, animation and VFX; and an audacious, pioneering embrace of novel tech and AI; Lavin’s multidisciplinary practice unfolds across a variety of mediums including film, concept and generative art.
Lavin’s work has been shown internationally in the Sundance Film Festival, Annecy Animation Film Festival, REDCAT Gallery in LA; JO-HS Gallery in CDMX, collected a Bronze Cannes Lion, won gold at ORION Film Festival; and is a part of Vimeo’s curated Experimental Film Collection. It has been covered by the New York Times, LA Times, Communication Arts Magazine, Fast Company and STASH Media.
