Nao Bustamante

"ASCO: Without Permission" is a genre-defying film that profiles the extraordinary, Los Angeles based, Chicano art group of the 70's-80's, ASCO, who merged activism and art as they challenged representation in the art world, Hollywood and the news media. Unrecognized in their time, they are now being considered amongst the most important artists of the 20th century. Utilizing a wholly original approach to filmmaking where nonfiction and fiction are interconnected through collaborative film works made with the next generation of Latinx artists, "Without Permission" reimagines what is possible today in cinema and art while celebrating an iconoclastic group that was far ahead of its time.

Nao Bustamante's Test Shoot, for the bullet-proof dress she produced "Tierra y Libertad - Kevlar 2945" inspired by a picture of armed women soldiers, opens with a provocative question: How would a woman fighting in the Mexican Revolution stand up to the weaponry of 1910, if she were clad in an Edwardian combat dress made of bullet resistant Kevlar®? Said dress. yellow with flower ornament, is hung outside in the snowy land and shot from distance. First bullet, second bullet, third bullet. What seems like a reimagination of fight unveils as an investigation on how to protect vulnerable bodies without enacting more harm. - Innas Tsuroiya