Jeissy Trompiz's 'Three Houses' Spotlights Venezuela's Marginalized Afro and Indigenous Communities

Venezuelan filmmaker Jeissy Trompiz presents 'Three Houses,' a short film that centers Afro-Venezuelan and Indigenous communities living on the margins of society. Trompiz, who left Maracaibo in 2014 to study at Cuba's International School of Film and TV, returns to his homeland's complexities through a lens rarely seen in mainstream narratives. The work emerges from a personal need to answer questions about a country in crisis.

The film explores the layered exclusion faced by these communities, situated geographically and socially at what Trompiz describes as the 'periphery of the periphery.' By focusing on intimate domestic spaces, the short reveals how broader economic collapse and political turmoil reverberate through daily life. Trompiz's background in Cuban cinema training informs a rigorous, observational approach to storytelling.

'Three Houses' positions itself within a growing wave of short-form works from Latin American directors using the format to challenge dominant historical narratives. The film serves as both a document of specific Venezuelan realities and a broader commentary on who gets to be visible on screen. Its festival trajectory will test appetite for shorts that prioritize ethnographic depth over conventional drama.

This brief draws on reporting from Variety.