el fierro

I’ve had this idea for a photograph for years now. I feel like it originally came to me in a dream or something, but I have seen the image of a luchador tying his mask with his back to us so vividly for so long. The more I thought about this image, the more images I conjured up to go alongside it: The Luchador with his mask on sitting on a crowded bus, The Luchador at home by himself, The Luchador as a paletero. Eventually, these images in my head were making me wonder about who this person is, why he looks so sad, why he still wears his mask.

So, I wrote a movie about it.

I am NOT a writer, I deal almost exclusively in visual language so putting pen to paper has been super daunting but super exciting! This film ended up becoming a personal exploration of first generation guilt and legacy. A story of an immigrant with a dream who has to sacrifice it to provide his children the opportunity to pursue theirs.

Below is my initial pitch deck that I presented at the Creative Futures Collective X Soho House Chicago Showcase.

Thanks for looking

A man wearing a silver luchador mask with oval eye holes and a nose and mouth opening, shot in black and white. Red text on the right stating "El Fierro" with additional smaller text describing a film by Luis Chavez and thematic content, along with a logo reading "Lucha Photography."
A film summary poster featuring two black and white images of men wearing masks. Overlayed in red text is the words 'Film Summary.'
Image with two black and white photos and text. Top photo shows an old man in a cowboy hat pushing a cart through city streets. Bottom photo shows a masked man in wrestling attire wearing a mask and holding a championship belt, with a crowd in the background. On the right side, there is text describing the two figures: 'The Old Man' and 'El Fierro'.
A black and white photo of a young man with a beard and long hair, wearing a leather jacket, sitting on stairs with a black metal railing, in an urban setting with power lines visible in the background.
Slide titled 'Film Inspiration' with a list of four film titles on a black background: 'The Iron Claw,' 'Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance,' 'The Bear,' and 'El Tigre the Adventures of Manny Rivera' in white text.
Collage of various images including a person with balloons, a man in a cowboy hat, a woman sitting on a bed wearing a cowboy hat, a vintage television showing a dance scene, an indoor scene of people at a dance, a crowd gathered around a swimming pool, and an abstract black and white eye design. The words 'Visual Reference' are displayed in red text on a black background.