Sweet Dreams
About the Film
Set in a near future where the ability to dream has all but vanished, Sweet Dreams follows Esperanza, a young woman on the brink of first-time motherhood. Weeks before her baby is due, her partner, Kiké, disappears without a trace. As Esperanza searches for him and her financial resources rapidly dwindle, she is drawn to a controversial new technology known as surrogate dreaming—a process that allows expectant mothers to sell the dreams of their unborn children through a specialized dreamcatcher clinic.
What begins as a desperate means of survival soon takes a troubling turn. After a trial session, Esperanza grows suspicious that the clinic may be entangled in Kiké’s disappearance, forcing her to confront the true cost of commodifying dreams, memory, and the future itself.
Director: Gary Alvarez
Producers: Erika Martinez and Gary Alvarez
United States // 2024 // Science Fiction, Thriller // Los Features
34 minutes
About the Filmmaker
Gary Alvarez is a Los Angeles–based Chicano writer/director whose films fuse grounded social realities with speculative storytelling to examine power, resistance and the human cost of systems built on exploitation and control. Raised in the working-class barrio of Bell, Gary crafts emotionally charged, character-driven narratives that center people pushed to the margins, using genre as a cinematic tool to explore how ordinary individuals confront oppression, reclaim agency and imagine futures beyond the limits imposed on them. His work reflects a distinct perspective within contemporary genre storytelling, rooted in community, defiance and hope.
His latest short film SWEET DREAMS (2024) has screened internationally including at the Winter Film Festival in New York City and earned Best Direction at the WILDsound Film Festival and Best Sci-Fi Short at the Independent Shorts Awards. The film premiered at the Mexican-American Film Festival and also screened at the Chicano Hollywood Film Festival.
Alongside his directing practice, Gary is an educator and mentor committed to helping young filmmakers from underserved communities develop bold artistic perspectives and expand representation in cinema. He holds an M.F.A. in Film Production (Directing) from Chapman University.
