Meet Sandra Suarez! Sandra is a Mexican-American stop-motion and 2D animation artist living and working in Los Angeles. In her words, “I want to create stories that connect people by exploring the messiness in life and encouraging kindness to oneself and others.” Sandra made her Tongal debut last year when she earned the green light for her pitch on SYFY’s My Genre, My Story: Hispanic Heritage Animated Video Project.
In her animated short, Cursed Hacienda, Sandra shares how a trip to Guanajuato, Mexico inspired her lover for horror stories. After losing track of time at the city’s famous mummy museum, Sandra and her family, upon exiting, are caught in the thick of a storm. They find shelter in a hotel but awake the next morning feeling and looking ill after enduring a night of frightening sounds. Unexpectedly, this experience leaves Sandra filled with more curiosity than fear. It’s giving core memory.
Outside of Tongal, Sandra is currently working on an animated short film called Roots. The protagonist of the film, Isabel, battles with a hair-pulling habit (trichotillomania) and leans on her adorable cat, Don Bigoton, to cope with the insecurities born out of this behavior. Earlier this year, Sandra earned a LatinX in Animation Spark Grant awarded by Latino Film Institute. This grant, which provides $20,000 for each filmmaker, is a collaboration between the Latino Film Institute and Netflix to create more behind-the-camera. As part of this program, Sandra will screen her film at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) next year.
Sandra’s project Roots will undoubtedly be imbued with her authentic experience as someone living with trichotillomania. Sandra describes the protagonist who “tends to see the beauty in everything and everyone but herself.” This part of her personality sparks her interest in crocheting, which distracts her from her hair pulling. "This small project sheds light on what it’s like to live with the condition but aims to do so in a lighthearted, loving and kind manner, that embraces being alive, opening up to others and finding self-acceptance."
You can learn more Sandra and her latest project by following their respective Instagram accounts: @threedollars21 and @roots.animated.short!
