A hybrid anthology of cinematic meditations on death, weaving rituals, memories, and political wounds into a constellation of stories that ask: what does it mean to die in our times, and what possibilities for renewal emerge from it?
SO I DON'T DIE ALONE is an anthology of poetic meditations on death—what it means, how we face it, and the rituals that bind the living to the departed. Structured as a series of fragments, the film moves between grief and resistance, ancestral dialogue and political wound, spiritual crossing and intimate farewell. Drawing from Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico, cemeteries in Latin America and the U.S., protests against the “death” of democracy, and the growing devotion to Santa Muerte, each chapter explores death as both personal and collective, symbolic and material. Through hybrid forms—blending documentary, essay, and experimental cinema—the film re-appropriates archival images, rituals, and speculative visions to reveal how mortality is politicized, commodified, and resisted. In confronting death as weapon and witness, end and beginning, So I Don’t Die Alone invites audiences to reflect on cycles of crisis and resilience, and to imagine possibilities of renewal in a world suspended between collapse and survival.
Chica Barbosa is a Mexican-Brazilian filmmaker based in Los Angeles, USA. Her artistic practice delves into narrative, hybrid, and experimental storytelling, focusing on themes such as displacement, the legacies of colonialism, visible and invisible borders, and faith as a form of resistance. Her work has been showcased at prominent festivals, including IDFA, Frameline, Outfest, Guanajuato International Film Festival, Festival Biarritz Amérique Latine, DOC NYC, LALIFF, RIDM, Sheffield Doc Fest, Leeds International Film Festival, and the Havana Film Festival.Chica also directs branded content and music videos, striving to collaborate with diverse teams both behind and in front of the camera.
She recently relocated from São Paulo, Brazil, where she co-founded the Film Collective "Cinefusão" and launched her production company, En Caliente Films, in 2014. Through the collective, she participated in “Cineclube Cinema em Revista,” facilitating discussions on film, politics, and art with educators, theater groups, and independent filmmakers.
Her directing credits include:
FERROADA (co-directed with Bruno Mello Castanho): A hybrid short film exploring the life of Brazilian writer and undertaker Tico in São Paulo, Brazil.
LA FLACA (The Bony Lady) (co-directed with Thiago Zanato, 2018): A hybrid short about a Mexican transgender woman and Santa Muerte leader in Queens, NY. The film received multiple awards and screened at over 100 festivals worldwide.
MADRIGAL FOR A LIVING POET (co-directed with Bruno Mello Castanho, 2018): A feature documentary awarded Best Film, Best Director, Best Script, Best Editing, and Best Character at the Festival de Cinema de Triunfo.
SAME/DIFFERENT/BOTH/NEITHER (co-directed with Fernanda Pessoa, 2020): A short film video correspondence between Los Angeles and São Paulo, which premiered in IDFA’s Short Competition and was shortlisted for the IDA Awards.
SWING AND SWAY (co-directed with Fernanda Pessoa, 2022): A feature documentary selected for Sheffield Doc Fest, Dok Leipzig, and RIDM, with a theatrical release across Brazil in 2023.
In 2023, Chica was selected for Berlinale Talents and the Short Form Station with her new narrative short film, AMAINARY. She is currently developing her first narrative feature, to be produced between Mexico and the USA.
Chica is an alumna of Berlinale Talents, Talents Guadalajara, the Points North Fellowship, the Latino Media Market, and NALIP's Diverse Women in Media Forum Mentorship Program.
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