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Running Toward the Desert: Faith, Identity and the Courage to Begin Again - VoyageLA
“A reckoning with identity, faith, masculinity, and the desert landscapes that shaped him.“
Our Lady of the Rock
Jose Soberanes Constantino
A Note From The Director
When I was 11 years old (2010), my mother took me to a Mexican Pentecostal church in Moreno Valley, California. In that church, God felt incredibly real to me. He felt like a present, physical and all-knowing God. Punishment and miracles were treated as immediate possibilities for everyone. People wept, spoke in tongues, fell to the floor and begged for forgiveness as a way of glorifying Him. I played bass on the worship team and spent, what felt like, much of my childhood there, praying out loud in Spanish before services and learning to see the world through a lens where the invisible felt as real as the visible. I learned discipline there. I learned devotion and I also learned fear. I learned that guilt could live in the body and that faith and terror were supposed to exist at the same time. I learned that grief, performance and prayer were supposed to share the same moments and although I am no longer a part of that church or Pentecostalism, my relationship with God has always been shaped by faith, fear, guilt and mysticism.
In September of 2025, I had spent $10,000 and gathered a twenty-person crew to shoot the first version of this film, then titled, Procopio, in 95-degree desert heat following half a year of work, preparation and rehearsals. When I watched the footage back, I realized it simply wasn’t good enough. It did not matter how many rehearsals we had done or how much equipment I had rented. I was not ready to make this film yet. After the first scene, a daytime sequence of violence and exhaustion, I knew we weren’t going to get the film I wanted us to get. I chose to continue for the next forty hours anyway because I knew there was still something for me to learn out there. I learned that attitude matters more than skill. I learned that acting cannot be imitated, only studied. I learned, again, that making something honest takes time, patience and sacrifice. So we reduced the crew by more than half, changed our lead actors, revised the script and returned to the Mojave Desert 4 months later. Instead of trying to shoot nine scenes in forty-eight hours, we shot six scenes over six weeks, returning on weekends and weekday nights.
Growing up in places like Perris, Hemet and Sage, CA gave me much to dislike about the desert. The first time I felt a positive connection towards it was in 2021 while directing a documentary titled, Homecoming, about the synth punk rapper N8NOFACE returning to Tucson, Arizona. Listening to him speak about the beauty, violence and poverty of where he came from made me realize our upbringings were not that different and if he could admire and utilize his landscape, I could do the same.
During the second stint of filming this movie, which was now titled, Our Lady of the Rock, it became apparent that every time we went back out to Mojave to film, I got better at filmmaking. We prepped for about 2 months and filmed twice in Mojave, but I was soon given a set of bad news. My lead actor and actress would no longer be able to be part of the process and so we had to pivot, again. So, I reset again, cycled out the crew, auditioned lead roles, changed the script, prayed and returned for our third attempt at making Our Lady of the Rock.
This film was made by an array of people that, at the least, influenced each variation of the film from the first to third iteration. In this version (3rd), it was made possible by my brother, Brandon Camarena, who’s confidence he has found in himself throughout this process is more important to me than the film itself. Angel & Rebecca, who dove deeper into the character than I anticipated anyone before them, too, forcing me to expand and think and most importantly, listen. Aryan, known for sound, but also for smoking American Spirits. Gisella, Justin, Blue, and Ryan for their consistent help, brain storming, support, love, care, softness and resilience.
Daisy Sanchez and Moya Gotham were the first to engage with my ideas on making a film in 2018. Adrian Aguirre, Wesley Flores and Sage Bliss-Rios Mace were part of the earliest conversations about this film, back in 2021. Lealani, Lola Jamin, Miky Melati and Gisella Espinoza contributed to writing that expanded the thematic world of this film beyond what I could articulate on my own. Thúy Lan Bercher, Kevin Romero, Marcos Croskey, Poppy Miller and Peter Pulido helped develop the ideas, supported me emotionally and put in a lot of hours that aren’t necessarily seen in the 3rd iteration, but are completely part of the reason for why the film can be made in the first place. And to my mother, who introduced me to resilience, faith and community, thank you.
As I write this, the film is still being completed.
Thank you so much for your support and consideration.
Anticipated Festival Run
October 8–18, 2026
SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia
Sitges, Spain
October 16–25, 2026
FICM – Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia
Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
October 30 - November 8, 2026
Morbido Fest
Mexico City, Mexico
Elevated Genre
January 2027
Slamdance Film Festival
Park City, Utah, USA
Independent Cinema
February 2027
FICCI – Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias
Cartagena, Colombia
Latin American Cinema
April 17–25, 2027
FICG – Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
International Cinema
April 24–May 4, 2027
San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM)
San Francisco, California, USA
Art House
May 2027
Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
Los Angeles, California, USA
Latino Cinema
July 2027
Fantasia International Film Festival
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
International Cinema