CHAN CHU
2025 · 3m · Bolivia
Directed by Daniel Reyes
Tones: dark, melancholic, tense
A tormented woman makes piggy banks for the Alasitas fair; when her violent husband comes back to steal her savings, she must decide whether to keep enduring the abuse or transform herself to change her situation.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise walks a line between domestic drama and magical realism without ever fully committing to either—and honestly, that refusal to settle is more interesting than if it had. Most shorts would resolve this tension by the end; Reyes lets it breathe.
There's a formal precision here in how the piggy banks function as both literal object and psychological anchor, grounding what could be overwrought material in concrete, almost folkloric detail—the Alasitas fair tradition gives the work a cultural specificity that elevates it beyond genre.
The decision to frame the transformation through the crafting of the piggy banks themselves—letting the handiwork *be* the resistance rather than just symbolize it—is what makes three minutes feel complete; it's economical filmmaking that trusts the viewer to see agency in creation.