Austin Film Festival is proud to announce a lineup of WORLD PREMIERES at its 31st season. Today we’ll be looking at the narrative short Mal Culo written by, directed by and starring Anna Salinas.
Mal Culo
(USA, 9 MIN)
Writer/Director: Anna Salinas
Cast: Anna Salinas, Rekha Shankar, Raiza Licea, Shannon Dee
As a woman gets ready for her date, a series of misfortunes befalls her butt.
Screening Times
Keep reading for Anna’s full interview.
AFF: Tell us about yourself.
I’m a Cuban-Swedish filmmaker/screenwriter originally from Sarasota, Florida, and now based in LA. I’ve written on a few TV shows over the years, including most recently— season 2 of Mo on Netflix and season 3 of Loot on AppleTV. Over the last decade, I’ve made about a dozen short films and hopefully, I’ll be shooting my first feature, Ines Unfortunately, in the next few months.
AFF: Why did you choose Austin Film Festival for your world premiere?
Last year we premiered a film I directed at AFF (Me Night starring my good friend Lauren Knutti) and I had truly the best time. There’s just this incredible energy at AFF that’s tough to beat; plus as a TV writer, I loved how writing-focused the programming was.
AFF: Did anything specific from your life inspire this project?
As a half-white Latina, I’ve spent most of my life trying to downplay my butt. Honestly, I think it’s the two sides of myself at war. The repressed, white Nordic half pushing back against my irrepressible Latin-ness. My Swedish mom used to say I got my big hips from my Cuban grandma and she didn’t mean it in a good way. That didn’t make it any easier when in the early 2000s, super-skinny beauty standards reigned supreme. Even years later, going through breakups, I would blame the rejection on my body: “If only I was size zero!” Of course now in my 30s, I’ve found a kind of peace with my body.