Beautiful Rage – an interview with Filmmaker Luma Jaguar

Luma Jaguar is an American born Peruvian writer, director living in San Francisco, CA. Luma is an actor, model, dancer, costume designer, and stunt performer specializing in sword fighting and aquatic stunts.

Nicole de Meneses: How did Haaus of Jaguar come into being?

Luma Jaguar: I had been trying to reclaim my identity as a Latine femme through the lens of cabaret work for awhile. I grew up in South America but I was considered too light-skinned to learn our native dances and I was too light skinned to learn Quechua. My grandfather was fully Quechua. He’s from a little pueblo right outside Cusco near machu picchu. I wanted to express myself and my rich and beautiful heritage and I wanted to do bigger and bigger multimedia style projects.

Haas of Jaguar is doing a show in November where the three of us come out of the jungle and find a conquistador and slaughter him. Re-writing history using goofy violence. I think we’re all feeling a little bit angry and we’re all feeling a little unheard. We’re all feeling a little uncertain about what the future will bring with the upcoming election. I think we all need something a little over the top to take the edge off right now.

Nicole de Meneses: With Haas of Jaguar, you each bring an interesting performer aesthetic. How did you come together as a Haas?

Luma Jaguar: We wanted to embrace our queerness and we’re all on different sides of the gender spectrum. I’m gender fluid. Rosa Robada is non binary and Wednesday Malfaz is mostly femme but she goes by she, they and is more into the burlesque, sensuality side of things and Rosa and I are on the rage side of things artistically. We meet every single week. We’re like a family. It’s been therapeutic to process everything that we’ve gone through as being light-skinned Latines. Wednesday immigrated from Brazil and people still want to tell her she’s not Latin enough to be in a Latin show.

We have each faced a lot of discrimination in the night life community. People are still telling us we’re not this or not that enough. Being hired for shows and then being forgotten by the organizer that we were hired. I ‘m trying to create a positive place where you are allowed to be angry. In a lot of these places you’re not allowed to raise your voice when you’re being mistreated and you’re not allowed to speak up when something is wrong and you don’t get hired again. We don’t make much in the cabarete scene. We do it because we’re called to do it. Art is a compulsion. It’s not a choice.

Nicole de Meneses: What is your hope with your new short film?

Luma Jaguar: My hope with this film is to empower anybody who sees it and to tell them that if you see something that’s wrong, it’s okay to be angry and it’s okay to do something about it. The long term goal is doing bigger shows that are fully funded so we can be able to donate to nonprofits to help unhoused lgbt youth, sex workers, all these people in our community that are overlooked and mistreated. We want to take action and support our community. We want to be the change we want to see in the world.

Nicole de Meneses: You wrote, directed and starred in the film. Can you talk about the production process to bring everything together?

Luma Jaguar: We made the film in two weeks. I felt like I was going to die. I helped with the editing process and was involved in selecting the music for the soundtrack. David Bowie said something like, the moment you’re doing art correctly, it’s like stepping into the ocean and that second that you can’t feel your feet on the ground anymore and you’re not sure you’re going to drown or swim. That’s when you’re making real art. That’s exactly how I feel right now. I can’t feel the bottom, I’m either going to sink or swim so I better fucking swim.

Nicole de Meneses: Can you tell people about the character you play?

Luma Jaguar: I play Inca. An ancient jaguar god. The god is so angry that so many people can’t afford housing and sees queer people being persecuted against that my character turns to the old magics and becomes possessed by the god Inca. Inca goes around and collects femmes to possess and help them find their gods.

My character is the rage of the old gods. My character comes to the realization that the conquistador who took over all of our land, melted our gold and our artefacts, that is still happening today through gentrification. So that’s not a Latine problem, it’s everyone’s problem. She was summoned to protect the Latinos but realized everyone needs protecting. It’s about banning together to get the treatment we deserve.

Nicole de Meneses: The film has a gritty grind house style to it. Was that intentional?

Luma Jaguar: Yes, we all love Robert Rodriguez’s work and we were inspired by the vibe of Machete and all those other films that flirt with the exploitation of women but end in their empowerment.