FESTIVAL PREMIERE
Live Action | Peru, USA | 15 MINUTES | Quechua
Kusi Smiles
Director: Sisa Quispe
Kusi gets triggered by joining a traditional family gathering in the Andes. Unable to sing since her mom passed away, Kusi is confronted by her grief in the community that shaped her.
CAST & CREDITS
Director
Sisa Quispe
Producer
Apolo Bautista
Writer
Sisa Quispe
Key Cast
Renata Flores
DIRECTORS BIO
Sisa Quispe is a Quechua Aymara award-winning director, writer, producer, speaker, and host in New York City. As an Indigenous woman, her work largely seeks to inspire the preservation of native ways while sharing a decolonizing message.
Quispe wrote, produced, and directed “Urpi: Her Last Wish,” a film exploring the complexity of the Indigenous identity, which won The Gotham’s 5th Annual Student Short Film Showcase. It is currently distributed by Focus Features and available in flight on JetBlue planes. “Kusi Smiles” is a short film about grief and finding a path of healing in the Andes, set to premiere in 2025 as part of the Latino Film Institute Inclusion Fellowship sponsored by Netflix. She is currently part of the 4th World Media, providing Indigenous creators a progressive immersion into film.
Her popular TEDx talk, “Re-thinking Who We Are Through A Decolonizing Lens,” shares her decolonization journey. As host of the Instagram series “Native Voices,” Quispe interviewed Indigenous people throughout Abya Yala/Turtle Island. She also produced “Vive el Quechua” (“Living Quechua”), an episodic YouTube series preserving and sharing her Indigenous language and culture.
Sisa hopes to bring more representation of Indigenous women’s perspectives to the screen and to continue cultivating a path for Indigenous youth to develop their voices.
DIRECTORS STATEMENT
Kusi Smiles is a tribute to my friends, my family, and my Quechua culture. It’s a reflection of the resilience that lives within us—the strength to be vulnerable, the power of sisterhood, and the joy that continues, even in the midst of grief.
This film was born during a time when I lost my voice and felt stuck in mourning. I didn’t know how to move forward. But little by little, I returned to what has always held me—my community, our songs, our dances, the land. It was in those spaces, in our traditions and our language, that I began to feel myself again.
As a Quechua woman, I’ve learned that healing doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in connection with others, with our traditions, and with the parts of ourselves we’ve been taught to hide. Healing starts with courage. The courage to face what hurts, to speak what we avoid, and to feel deeply, even when it’s hard.
Kusi Smiles came from a place of loss, but it’s also filled with hope. Through this film, I want to share a glimpse of that hope—and the beauty that remains, even in sorrow. A reminder that our culture, our relationships, and our memories can carry us through.
Returning Filmmaker
AMC The Grove 14
189 The Grove Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Parking
At The Theatre
