Comparsa

2025 | Coast Film & Music Festival

Duration: 79 min

Synopisis

Comparsa immerses audiences in the intense world of Ciudad Peronia, Guatemala, where sisters Lesli and Lupe use art to break the silence surrounding gender violence. After 41 girls are killed in a State-run “Safe Home”, the sisters respond with a community comparsa—an exuberant street performance featuring giant puppets, fire-breathing stilt walkers, and thundering drums. They expose a system that permits and commits violence against women, and they open up about surviving abuse in their own home. Co-created with the film's participants, Comparsa is a stirring portrait of healing through art.

Featured at Coast Film & Music Festival 2025

Production Team

Vickie Curtis (director, producer, writer): Emmy-winning writer of Netflix Originals The Social Dilemma and Chasing Coral, Vickie makes her directorial debut with Comparsa. Her work explores the systemic roots of social and ecological crises, and the artists and activists working to rebuild. Vickie’s storytelling spans award-winning documentaries including Searching For Amani (Tribeca), We Are Guardians (HotDocs, Netflix LatAm), Greener Pastures (POV), and Anbessa (Berlinale, Arte). After years studying theatre and education, she brings a collaborative ethos to each project.

Doug Anderson (director, editor, producer): Doug is a New York-based filmmaker and founder of Paper Moth Media, where he creates politically engaged documentary work, including for the groundbreaking 2018 campaign of US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Credits include cinematography for To The End (Sundance 2022) and The Providers (Independent Lens), and sound work on Predators (MTV Documentary Films), Knock Down the House (Netflix) and Pride (FX). Comparsa marks his directorial debut.