A Colombian teenage girl in Los Angeles unravels when deportation threatens her world. Consumed by fear, she clings to memories of childhood and fleeting love, searching for inner strength to face a world that seeks to erase her.
A Colombian teenage girl in Los Angeles begins to unravel as the threat of deportation creeps into her world. Though raised to believe herself strong, a quiet unease grows inside her, as fear pulls her away from everything that once felt safe. As she struggles to piece together memories that bleed into the present, fragments of childhood, and fleeting love, she confronts the rhythm of the waves and the tide inside her in a world that threatens to erase her.
Lorena Villanueva is a Colombian director and producer based in Los Angeles with over a decade of experience as an assistant director in film and television. A Master’s graduate in Film Direction from Spain, she has directed several acclaimed short films, including FUOCO FATUO, INÉS, and the award-winning BED SMASH. Her directing credits also include the rom-com short BABY, YOU’RE NO GOOD, and the upcoming horror short film GOOD CANDIDATE, currently in post-production.
She is the co-writer, director, and producer of the short film THE TIDE INSIDE, which premiered at Cascadia International Film Festival and has been selected in several prestigious film festivals like LA Shorts, PHLAFF and the Norwegian Short Film Festival. She is currently developing her feature debut, GAIRA with CineQuanon Storylines Lab a romance about the search for forgiveness amidst the aftermath of Colombia's internal conflict.
Lorena produced the feature COROZO, which won the Audience Award at the Colombian Film Festival of New York in 2024 and was released in theaters in March 2026. She is also producing the psychological feature TEOREMA which was part of NALIP Accelerator 2025. Lorena is a member of the Colombian Academy of Motion Pictures.
Lorena's on set experience expands to over 10 years as a recognized assistant director working on independent features as well as TV Shows and films produced by studios like Netflix, Apple TV, Sony and Amazon.
Actress - Laura Sofía Domínguez
Actor - Jacob Rodriguez
Production Designer - Sara Millán
Cinematographer - Alexandre Genevieve Agar
Editor - Ariana Topke
