UCSD - University of California - San Diego

03/26/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/26/2026 10:34

‘Rag Dolls’ Brings a Tender Story of Love and Resilience to the Global Stage

Published Date

March 26, 2026

Article Content

"Rag Dolls," a new short film by Professor of Visual Arts Amy Adler, offers a tender portrait of love and resilience. Set in Puebla, Mexico, the documentary follows married couple Rosalinda Garcia Bonilla and Diana Ivón Villafán Pérez as they navigate life with disabilities - spina bifida and cerebral palsy -while confronting poverty and discrimination with quiet strength and mutual care.

The film made its world premiere in February at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and was recently selected to be featured in Five Films for Freedom, curated as part of the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. The annual program presented by the British Film Institute showcases five short films celebrating LGBTQIA+ stories from around the world, which are translated into multiple languages and made available to screen globally during the run of BFI Flare.

"Their story is such an important one," says Adler. "And being included in Five Films for Freedom means it will be available to watch in countries where in some cases being queer is illegal, or where queer people don't have opportunities to be in community with other queer people."

The project is personal for Adler. She was introduced to Rosalinda and Diana through her brother, Ekiwah Adler Beléndez, a poet and disability activist who has cerebral palsy. The siblings collaborated to produce a podcast about the remarkable love story.

"The project was born out of a really long and deep love with my brother," explained Adler. "Also, over the past six years my wife Allyson and I have become very close with Rosalinda and Diana, as a kind of extended queer family."

Following the podcast project, Adler was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021 to develop a feature-length film about how Rosalinda and Diana first met and the difficult decisions they had to make when they chose each other. She and her brother were invited to attend the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab Intensive in 2024 to further develop the project with mentorship from top creative advisors.

The new 12-minute documentary is one piece of this larger project. After receiving support through a UC San Diego Academic Senate grant and a Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts fellowship, Adler and her wife Allyson traveled to Mexico with a small crew to film Rosalinda and Diana for three days. Using handheld cameras and sharing audio captured of the couple's own voices, the story is told intimately while portraying ordinary moments like a romantic date, caring for pets and sharing meals.

"From the beginning, our approach was grounded in trust and care," Adler said. "The film doesn't dwell on their difficult circumstances, and it doesn't make them into heroic characters. We allowed their experiences to unfold on their own terms."

Adler is drawn to human-centered stories that explore relationship dynamics and personal histories. While her roots are in studio-based practices, particularly drawing, Adler embraced filmmaking later in her career to broaden her creative language - or as she describes it, "stand on the other side of the lens."

She served as director and producer on "Rag Dolls," collaborating with Visual Arts MFA alumnus and current staff member Paulo Zuniga, who edited the film. The project is set to screen next at Ethnografilm in Paris, then ReelAbilities in New York City, the world's leading film festival dedicated to advancing disability representation, accessibility, and inclusion through the power of storytelling.

Adler was part of the spring 2024 cohort of Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts fellows. The center, part of the School of Arts and Humanities, serves as a creative hub for teaching, research, production and exhibition of film and moving-image arts at UC San Diego. More than 50 students, faculty and staff across the university have received funding and access to film production equipment in support of their cinematic projects. Learn more about fellowship opportunities here.

"Rag Dolls" was completed in Dec. 2025 and made its world premiere at the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
UCSD - University of California - San Diego published this content on March 26, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on March 26, 2026 at 16:34 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]