{"id":39154,"date":"2026-05-18T14:42:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T18:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/?p=39154"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:42:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T18:42:57","slug":"film-intro-the-birthday-gift-directed-by-arianna-ortiz-part-1-theword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/film-intro-the-birthday-gift-directed-by-arianna-ortiz-part-1-theword\/","title":{"rendered":"THE BIRTHDAY GIFT Directed by Critically Acclaimed Director Arianna Ortiz Blew This Reviewer Out of His Seat \u2013 Part 1 of 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Its next screening is <\/strong><strong>Thursday, May 28 at 9:30 p.m., p<\/strong><strong>remiering at the the 25th Anniversary Edition of the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) where this reviewer expects it will probably blow audiences out of their seats.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"THE BIRTHDAY GIFT Teaser\" width=\"860\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4hbu5-glOis?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Directed by Arianna Ortiz. Written by Stephanie Alison Walker &amp; Paula Pizzi. Produced by Rachel Stander<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Cast:<\/strong> Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Paula Pizzi, Ignacio Serricchio, Nate Santana, Margarita Lamas<br \/>\n<strong>Cinematography<\/strong> by Christopher Rejano, Edited by Jonathan Cuartas.<br \/>\n\u00a9 A Season of Rain LLC<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_39183\" style=\"width: 245px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39183\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-39183\" src=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TheBirthdayGift_DrectorAriannaOrtiz-235x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TheBirthdayGift_DrectorAriannaOrtiz-235x300.jpg 235w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TheBirthdayGift_DrectorAriannaOrtiz-260x332.jpg 260w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TheBirthdayGift_DrectorAriannaOrtiz-160x205.jpg 160w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TheBirthdayGift_DrectorAriannaOrtiz-768x982.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TheBirthdayGift_DrectorAriannaOrtiz.jpg 782w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 235px) 100vw, 235px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-39183\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Director Arianna Ortiz<\/p><\/div>\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"375\">Ortiz&#8217;s film is a 16-minute <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">short film set during an intimate birthday dinner in Chicago. She uses what looks like a typically bourgeoisie feel-good family gathering to recall the devastating effects of fascism and the disappearance of children during Argentina\u2019s dictatorship in the late 1970s and early 1980s. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">The lives of an\u00a0 Argentine mother and daughter are shockingly disrupted when an unexpected guest causes jarring recollections of country&#8217;s \u201cDirty War,\u201d thematically recalling stolen identities, intergenerational trauma, memory and political violence.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-39230\" src=\"http:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/birthdaygift-logo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/birthdaygift-logo.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/birthdaygift-logo-800x507.jpg 800w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/birthdaygift-logo-260x165.jpg 260w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/birthdaygift-logo-160x101.jpg 160w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/birthdaygift-logo-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hunterword.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/birthdaygift-logo-768x487.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/birthdaygiftfilm\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this profile on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/birthdaygiftfilm\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Birthday Gift<\/a> (@<a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/birthdaygiftfilm\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">birthdaygiftfilm<\/a>) \u2022 Instagram photos and videos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>End Part 1 of 3<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Birthday Gift was directed by Arianna Ortiz and stars Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Paula Pizzi, and Ignacio Serricchio. The film is based on Stephanie Alison Walker\u2019s full-length play, The Abuelas, which premiered at Teatro Vista in Chicago in 2019. \u2013 Gregg W. Morris reviewing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/film-intro-the-birthday-gift-directed-by-arianna-ortiz-part-1-theword\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2330,2301,31,821],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2330","category-film-news-2025-2026","category-film-tv-reviews","category-short-flms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39154"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39363,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39154\/revisions\/39363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hunterword.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}