Best Of Show: A Mexica Lowrider Myth

My name is Junior Robinson. I am native son of Pueblo, Colorado. Along with our team, we are excited to share our story Best Of Show with you. Best Of Show is an underdog story. It is a story of “justice for street vendors” hidden in the lowriding dreams of Huatzin a Chicano Paletero with a magical-lowrider-cart in Pueblo, Coloraztlan. It’s grounded within, lowriding, Aztec danza and barrio culture. Best Of Show is also rooted in the cuento or the Chicano spiritual story of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado communities.

Best Of Show is light-hearted in tone. But I drew upon my own experiences of being bullied in high school to shape the scenes between Huatzin and the bully lowriders. When Huatzin and Danger reveal the Magical lowrider paleta cart in The Neon Alley it is a moment of justice and pride. But it is also fun as we first see Huatzin and the lowrider cart in silhouette almost like we see Indiana Jones in Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

I am a Chicano filmmaker out of USC film school and I am eager to tell stories for my community and for the world to understand that community just a little bit better. While at USC I was a friend of Ryan Coogler, director of Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther, amungst many other filmakers, writers, producers, directors, USC Homies!

But I used to work the basement in Lucas post and I would lock “Coog” in the sound suite when I would close so he could work all night. I would talk to the janitor in my Broken-Spanish letting him know that someone would be in there working. None of us had the authority but we’re from the old film-school where they used to let us work half the night away. I’m so proud of “Coog” for showing us SC Wild-Bunch homies, that the cinema dream can be captured and told in your own language, culture and even broken down city.

I hope that our film will shine some light on who we are as a Southern Colorado Chican@ community, and the beauty of our cultural storytelling, I’m just putting a little homeboy twist on it.

Our mission is to show Pueblo in a magical way! It’s not just the barrio, Quinto Sol, “The Car Show” or the Neon Alley. But those places become commentary for Chicanos in Pueblo and a magical setting where homeboys can fall in love with ghosts and Paleteros win best of show for their lowrider carts. Y-Que!! C/S . :

Junior Robinson
tiahuipicturecompany@gmail.com
www.tiahuipicturecompany.com