Children’s Book About Boy Writing Love Song for Another Boy Is Now an Award-Winning Film

A children’s book that tells of one boy creating a love song for another, carrying on the Mexican serenata tradition of serenading one’s beloved, is the inspiration for an award-winning new short film.

When We Love Someone We Sing to Them/Cuando Amamos Cantamos, by Ernesto Javier Martínez (Reflection Press), was one of my favorite LGBTQ-inclusive children’s books of 2018. In it, a father tells his son about the Mexican serenata tradition, “our way to hug with sounds” [“nuestra manera de abrazar con la voz”]. He gives an example—the two of them singing to the boy’s mother last Mother’s Day—and promises his son he will sing with him when the boy someday wants to share his heart with someone. When the boy falls in love with another boy, the father is true to his word, and helps his son create and perform a new song for the one who is in his heart.

Martí­nez, a queer Chicano/Puerto Rican literary critic, educator, and writer, has helped adapt his book into a short film, La Serenata (The Serenade), directed by Adelina Anthony, a “two-spirit, Xicana, lesbiana artista.” The young star, Malik Quetzalcoatl Cano, shows a sweet charm and his performance won the Silver Award for Best Child/Young Actor at the Independent Shorts Awards. Some may miss the book’s dazzling illustrations by Maya Christina Gonzalez—but I love seeing the story rendered in two different ways. Each has its own impact.

La Serenata has been making the film festival circuit since its premiere in March and in fact won quite a number of awards, including Best Short Film at the prestigious Imagen Awards (sometimes called the Latino Golden Globes).

Book, film, and the film’s central song, “Jardín de Mariposas,” are part of Martí­nez’ femeniños project, a children’s literature and narrative film initiative founded to explore the relationship between queer Latino/x youth and their familias, “in response to the underrepresentation of Latino/x youth in cultural production, and as a way to mitigate the psychological harm and physical violence to which queer youth of color are subjected.”

Martínez, a professor at the University of Oregon, spoke recently with NPR station KLCC in Oregon about the film and his motivations. The interview, alternating between English and Spanish, is worth a listen.

Keep an eye on the film’s Facebook page for upcoming screenings around the country. They include:

• Eugene, Oregon—Oregon Independent Film Festival (September 18th, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.)
• Boston, Mass—Boston International Latino Film Festival (September 28th, 2019 at 12 p.m.)
• Tacoma, Washington—Tacoma Film Festival (October 6, 2019)
• Seattle, Washington—Seattle Queer Film Festival (October 13, 2019)

You can listen to “Jardí­n de Mariposas” at Amazon or iTunes and read the lyrics at the femeniños site. The full film is not yet available to stream, but here’s a teaser.

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