Inspired by his idol and wanting to impress the teacher he is crushing on, 13-year-old Juan Po gets a DIY perm done by his father. Now he must survive an entire day at school with a mangled ‘fro.

Director Biography - Maria Victoria Ponce



Maria Victoria Ponce was born in her grandmother’s dirt-floored kitchen in rural Michoacan, Mexico. Ponce’s work navigates the complexities in the routine lives within poor and working-class neighborhoods: themes of immigration, sexuality, and coming of age tend to recur. Through film, she aims to highlight the breadth and depth of the Latine experience in the Bay Area. Ponce is a fellow at Sundance/WIF Financing Intensive, Film Independent Fast Track and an artist resident at SFFILM FilmHouse. She was a finalist for Tribeca/AT&T Untold Stories. She received grants from SFFILM Rainin, PBS – The Latino Experience and The Berkeley Film Foundation. Most recently she was named the Rainin Fellow in Film through the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and the LPB Digital Media Fund 2024.