After moving to L.A. following his father's death, Javi is forced to return alone to Puerto Rico for his grandpa's funeral. He soon meets Luife and Kiki, two social misfits who transform his summer and draw him into an unexpected love triangle.

Best U.S. Narrative Feature Screenplay - Tribeca Film Festival 2026

Best Acting Ensemble - Tribeca Film Festival 2026

Poor Animals

Screenwriter & Director 2025

The screenplay was inspired by director Mariana S. Belaval Madera’s personal reflections on nature and man, combined with stories her abuela told me about her childhood in the countryside of Puerto Rico, meshed together in this narrative and gave her the answers that she was looking for., filtered through a Latin American gaze onto Midwestern life.

The project was a quarterfinalist in the 2024 Manchester Film Festival and it was a semifinalist in the 2024 Paramount Film Festival.

The creative team includes producer Jackson Learned, cinematographer Sophie Chevako, and co-producer Teya Sainz—all emerging talents with strong roots in Puerto Rico, Indiana, and Chicago’s independent film scenes. Together, the team envisions a 2025 shoot with a hybrid Chicago–Puerto Rico production model, aiming to bring this gritty, intimate story to life.

This project in is the financing stage.

When Mike is obligated by his father to put down their oldest horse Stick, Mike blackmails his older sister Frankie into helping him hide Stick from his father and convince him the horse is dead.

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2025