THE NIGHT JAGUAR
DIRECTED BY ROBERT ZIMMER, JR.
2022
10 min
United States
English, Spanish
Inspired by true events in Mexico, and by the Mayan legend of a shapeshifting Night Jaguar, this short film is at once an erotic fever-dream and an anti-patriarchal allegory. Guadalajara and Tulum are the backdrop for a doomed four-way relationship, framed by shared lust for prestige and carnal delight. In this post-modern telling of The Night Jaguar legend, we join two couples, one American, one Mexican, both addicted to fame and power, as fools’ gold seduces them all. Their penchant for Faustian transactions invokes the anger of the gods, where the price of art becomes the soul itself.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY – ROBERT ZIMMER, JR.
Robert Zimmer, Jr. is an award-winning creative executive, screenwriter, and producer who got his start working for legendary producer Aaron Spelling. He has worked on such feature and short films such as the Oscar-winning The Usual Suspects, Half-Life (Sundance, SXSW), A Portrait of James Dean: Joshua Tree 1951 (Frameline, Outfest), and No Woman’s Face Remember (Cannes). He has also worked on iconic TV shows such as Star Trek: Voyager, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, and 7th Heaven. The Night Jaguar is his first short film as a director.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT
The Night Jaguar’s genesis was a true event I witnessed while in Guadalajara, Mexico — the assassination of the minster of tourism, in broad daylight, on the closing day of the Guadalajara Film Festival — the Cannes of Latin America, of course. But to send a vivid message that art will never bow to terrorism, the festival closing event went that night as planned, regardless of the threat, and I became fascinated with the resiliency of the Mexican artistic culture behind that forceful statement. This short film is the result. This neo-noir erotic fever-dream combines true crime elements with an indigenous Mayan legend I discovered (The Night Jaguar/The Sun God) about the duality within all our spirits. We explore this theme through a four-way relationship of sorts, between two ambitious couples who meet in Guadalajara. Through these flawed characters I asked the question: When prestige, fame, and money are at stake, just how far will people go to get what they want? We shot in 110 degree temperatures, with Cook Prime lenses, to capture the erotic, heat-sheen feel of Mexico’s night life.
Lastly but importantly, this is a project we are proud to call Queer, both in-story and off-screen. I am a proud queer filmmaker, and many who worked on this project are members of the LGBTQ+ community, such as co-writer Matthew Halterman and our producer Nikki Blacklock, to name only a few. We are so grateful to the LGBQT+ allies on our team as well.
DIRECTED BY ROBERT ZIMMER, JR.
