Little L.A.
About the Film
This short documentary centers around the neighborhood in Mexico City that some call “Little LA”, where former Dreamers frequently work and gather after being deported from the U.S. Many are young adults who have spent most of their lives in the United States. Some of them don’t speak Spanish and end up living in a country they can barely remember, often working in the English language call centers that the neighborhood grew up around. In Little LA, they set to work reconstructing the home to which they can’t return.
Directors: Liz Fania Werner and Carlos Montaner
Producers: Liz Fania Werner and Carlos Montaner
United States, Mexico // 2025 // Documentary // Los Shorts
6 minutes
About the Filmmaker
Liz Fania Werner is a writer and director whose work integrates genre with socially conscious themes and character-driven storytelling. Most recently, she wrote and co-directed her first feature film, WAKING KARMA, a psychological thriller starring Michael Madsen, distributed by XYZ Films and now streaming on Tubi. Liz, originally from the Bronx, NY, got her MFA in Writing for Screen and Television from USC where she earned an Annenberg Fellowship. She went on to write on television drama RPM MIAMI for Mun2 network; to develop the feature adaptation of the novel BABYLON SISTERS by Oprah Book Club author Pearl Cleage and to pen a biopic about WNBA player Abby Bishop for Sentient Entertainment. “Into the Uncanny Valley,” the award-winning short film that she co-directed with Carlos Montaner, was featured in 11 festivals, including L.A.’s Screamfest and HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival. Liz lives in Los Angeles, though she considers herself a life-long New Yorker.
Carlos Montaner is a Puerto Rican–born director and cinematographer whose work is deeply shaped by documentary storytelling and a Latinx, diasporic perspective. Raised in Madrid in a family of Cuban exiles, Carlos has long been drawn to stories that explore identity, history, and human resilience. His passion for documentaries includes extensive shooting for the History and Discovery channels, as well as directing The Grandchildren of the Cuban Revolution, an official selection of the Cincinnati Film Festival and the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Brussels. Carlos earned a BFA at the School of Visual Arts. He went on to receive an MFA in cinematography from AFI and was further mentored by Michael Ballhaus. His narrative work includes WAKING KARMA (XYZ Films), which he co-directed with Liz Fania Werner, and numerous award-winning shorts and features.
