MAD BILLS TO PAY (OR DESTINY DILE QUE NO SOY MALO), by Joel Alfonso Vargas
The 3rd Annual Latinx Film Showcase
Presented by The Latinx Project at NYU and Cinema Tropical
The Latinx Project at NYU and Cinema Tropical present the third edition of the Latinx Film Showcase, a one-day series celebrating the remarkable work of U.S. Latinx filmmakers. This year’s program brings together three distinct and compelling films that reflect the breadth of contemporary U.S. Latinx cinema, ranging from urgent documentary to gripping narrative fiction, all nominated at the 16th edition of the Cinema Tropical Awards.
The lineup includes Uvalde Mom, Anayansi Prado’s searing documentary portrait of courage and accountability in the aftermath of the 2022 mass shooting; ASCO: Without Permission, Travis Gutiérrez Senger’s genre-defying exploration of the radical Chicano art collective that reshaped Los Angeles in the 1970s; and Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, Dile Que No Soy Malo), Joel Alfonso Vargas’s vibrant and deeply personal debut narrative set in a Dominican American community in the Bronx. Select screenings will be followed by talkback sessions with filmmakers.
Saturday, March 7, 2026
Cantor Center at New York University
36 East 8th Street, New York City
Free Admission. Seating is first-come, first-served.
UVALDE MOM
(Anayansi Prado, USA, 2025, 89 min. In English)
Uvalde Mom tells the extraordinary story of Angeli Rose Gomez, a farm worker and single mother who risked everything to save her two sons during the May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. While nearly 400 armed officers waited 77 minutes to act, Angeli ran into the school, pulled her children to safety, and became a viral symbol of courage. Speaking out against law enforcement’s inaction, she faced intense harassment from authorities seeking to discredit her. Award-winning director Anayansi Prado (Maid in America, The Unafraid) delivers a heart-wrenching portrait of Angeli’s relentless fight for justice as Uvalde grapples with systemic failures and conflicting narratives, deepening the town’s grief and anger.
ASCO: WITHOUT PERMISSION
(Travis Gutiérrez Senger, USA/Mexico, 90 min. In English)
Q&A with the director
Executive produced by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, Travis Gutiérrez Senger’s engrossing, genre-defying debut feature explores the revolutionary Chicano art group ASCO, who transformed 1970s LA into a bold, defiant canvas. Merging activism with radical artmaking, the artistic collective confronted the norms of Hollywood, museums, and media, and have since been recognized among the 20th century’s most significant artists. ASCO: Without Permission, winner of the Cinema Tropical Award for Best U.S. Latinx Film, captures their boundary-breaking spirit with an inventive approach, weaving nonfiction and fiction together with a new generation of artists. The result is more than a profile—it’s a reimagining of what’s possible in art and cinema, celebrating iconoclasts who were decades ahead of their time.
MAD BILLS TO PAY (OR DESTINY DILE QUE NO SOY MALO)
(Joel Alfonso Vargas, USA, 2025, 100 min. In English and Spanish with English subtitles)
In a tight-knit Dominican American community in The Bronx, Rico spends the summer hustling—selling bootleg “nutcracker” cocktails out of a beach cooler and chasing girls with reckless abandon. When his teenage girlfriend, Destiny, starts crashing at his place with his family, their small apartment becomes the stage for a love that is as messy as it is intense. Writer-director Joel Alfonso Vargas turns his hometown into the heartbeat of his acclaimed debut feature, teaming up with street-cast talent Juan Collado and Destiny Checo to deliver a raw, deeply authentic slice-of-life portrait. Winner of a Special Mention for Best U.S. Latinx Film at the Cinema Tropical Awards, the film captures with humor and grit the chaos, charm, and unexpected twists of youthful life in a city that waits for no one.
