The Ballad of Tita and the Machines
Directed by:
Miguel Angel Caballero
TIDEFF 2024 Best Film Award Winner
"The Ballad of Tita and the Machines" is set in the future when artificial intelligence is closer to becoming a tangible societal norm. When Tita, an elderly strawberry picker, is injured and attempts to hire an AI company to substitute for her at work, a string of AIs continuously breakdown due to the harsh working conditions. Tita shines a light on our essential unsung working-class heroes in the United States who are often undervalued and rendered invisible.
Shorts Program 2
Saturday, Nov 16, 2024
4:00 PM
BRIC
Run Time:
15 mins
About the Filmmaker
Miguel Angel Caballero is the son of Mexican immigrant farm workers and an award-winning Queer Mexican-American/Chicano writer, director, and producer. His inspiration for storytelling came at a very young age. Though Miguel’s English was limited, he enjoyed making up storylines in real time as he interpreted reruns of "Little House On The Prairie" for his grandma. Much later, he received his bachelor's degree from the School of Theater, Film & Television at UCLA.
His latest sci-fi short, THE BALLAD OF TITA AND THE MACHINES, executive produced by Lena Waithe, premiered at the Tribeca Festival in 2023, screened at TIFF (Rising Voices), and won the Audience Award at Outfest. His short, ACUITZERAMO, won 21 awards internationally, including the Imagen Award.
Miguel Angel is a Film Independent Fast Track and Project Involve Fellow and an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Accelerator Program fellow. He is the winner of the Humanitas Award and was named by the International Screenwriters Association (ISA) as one of the top 25 screenwriters to watch in 2024. He and his writing partner, Luis Antonio Aldana, are currently adapting a sci-fi novel for television for Ley Line Entertainment.
