Diabla

2024 Submission
Written By Justin Merino

Sita Abellán releases a new short occult horror short film, which comes in the form of a music video for her recently released track “DIABLA.” The film comes as a collaboration with filmmaker Francesco Calabrese, known for his story-driven, visually striking work in both the narrative and commercial fields.

The film, which juxtaposes the famed 90’s Spanish clubbing movement Ruta Del Bakalao with a period piece set in the 1600s, is a story of resilience and survival in a world where all aspects of society are hell-bent on conforming those who deviate from the norm. In the video, Sita and others like her are condemned as witches due to their “abnormal appearances" (featuring Sita’s iconic blue hair) and hunted by the townsfolk.

Francesco Calabrese

Francesco Calabrese has been interested in storytelling from a young age. He moved to LA to develop his short film Lovely Monster into a feature length film with LionsGate after CAA discovered it. In addition to his successes on the narrative side with a number of shorts that gained a lot of attention, he has worked with a wide range of global agencies crafting visually driven commercials, music videos and internet content.

While he’s shooting commercials all over the world he keeps busy developing more feature film projects, writing scripts and shooting short films. Agency collaborators include Leo Burnett, Y&R, TBWA, Ogilvy, JWT and BBDO for clients such as Gatorade, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Lululemon and Yamaha among many others.

Justin Merino

justin raymond merino founded kulturspace on a strong philosophy of collaboration and a belief that enriching our world with artistic, cultural and innovative visions can be done collectively, free from the limitations of a traditional brick-and-mortar operation.

over fifteen years of wide ranging international experience in management, design and cultural environments has gifted justin the skills needed to bring together the talents of creative professionals and designers.  most recently he cofounded the berlin student film festival (bsff) to spread the vision of inclusion and provide a platform to rising talents.

justin’s education is just as comprehensive. he completed business management studies at coc, a degree in design and visual communications from the university of pennsylvania, and in film & cinema from the university of london. he also studied project management at pinnacle p.d., exhibition design at node’s center for curatorial studies, and has participated in numerous educational programmes at the museum of modern art in new york. 

as a creative consultant justin has worked with mercedes-benz, deutsche telekom, adidas, dr. oetker, victorinox and others to harness and foster the force behind designers, strategists and creatives.  through a series of workshops and one and one support justin coaches berlin creative freelancers on how to navigate their career, develop a portfolio, build a client base as well as how to market and brand themselves. these days justin travels between berlin, tel aviv and his native los angeles developing kulturspace’s & bsff’s international presence, working with creative individuals and organisations to bring ideas to life.

http://www.kulturspace.com
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