Las Cosas Que Brillan (All That Glitters)
Project Phase: Completed 2025
Runtime: 11 min
A curious young mermaid defies her mother’s warnings and ventures to the surface, only to discover the danger that lies above after a violent encounter with a conquistador.
Awards & Nominations:
Nominated - Best Short Film, Imagen Awards (2026)
Winner - Best Director, Grand Rapids Film Festival (2026)
Select Crew
Starring: Josielyn Aguilera as Marisol, Brad Wakeman as Conquistador, Asia Monroe as Mami | Director: Kristal Sotomayor
Produced by Kristal Sotomayor, Bettina Escauriza, Kris Mendoza | Executive Producers: Maori Karmael Holmes and Caroline Kim | Supervising Producer: Heidi Saman | Co-Producer: Sydney Rodriguez | Line Producer: Steve L. Nguyen
Editor: Andrea Cruz | Finishing Editor: Stephen Yia
Support Our Film Festival Tour
Las Cosas Que Brillan is a heartfelt queer coming-of-age story that celebrates transformation, resilience, and the power of imagination. We’re ready to bring this magical film to festivals and communities across the country—but we can’t do it without you.
Your donation will help us cover: flights and travel to festivals, submission fees to get the film seen, meals and lodging for our team, and community screenings and Q&As.
Every dollar helps us shine brighter and reach more people with this story of queer joy and possibility.
Did you know you can also donate airline miles and hotel points to support our travel to screenings and festivals? Email us at films@sotomayorproductions.com
Screenings & Events
Audio Description Pre-Show
We’re proud to offer an audio description pre-show for Las Cosas Que Brillan to make the film more accessible to blind and low-vision audiences. This short audio segment introduces key visual elements, characters, and settings before the film begins, helping all viewers fully experience the story’s emotional and artistic details. Accessibility is central to our work — because everyone deserves to engage with and be moved by this film. Audio Descriptions by Social Audio Description Collective with support from writer Cheryl Green and narrator Nefertiti Matos Olivares.
Press
“Kristal Sotomayor, directora peruana, nos muestra un relato de una sirena moderna. Nos habla de la búsqueda del ser, del querer salir de tu entorno cómodo y seguro para buscar algo más; pero también de cómo a veces esta búsqueda no siempre trae resultados positivos. El colonialismo (siendo una sirena latina) y la destrucción ambiental son temas que se retratan de una manera muy profunda, usando recursos que evocan el teatro y logran un gran resultado.” — Carol Rodríguez, Vogue Mexico (Print Edition)
“Mermaids have always been warnings disguised as fantasies. They’re beautiful, unknowable, and caught between worlds … Kristal Sotomayor’s 11-minute short takes that mythology back from the colonizers.” — Denise Zubizarreta, Latina Media Co.
“Sotomayor’s vibrant short is full of playful and arresting animated images, but the themes of resistance ring clearly as Marisol fights against oppression for love and self-worth.” — Gary M. Kramer, Philadelphia Gay News
A Sotomayor Productions Film
In Association With
Supported By
The BlackStar Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab is presented with support from Independence Public Media Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation.
This project has been supported by The Philadelphia Independent Media Fund administered by Scribe Video Center with funds provided by the Independence Public Media Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation.
This project has been supported by the PANO Network microgrant.
