The Siren Song

 When Mercedes was just 7, she started fishing with her parents. From that moment on, the coast became her stage and place of joy. She loved dances and thought that she was “tremendous”. At age twelve, she ran away with a man over 25 years old,

 When Mercedes was just 7, she started fishing with her parents. From that moment on, the coast became her stage and place of joy. She loved dances and thought that she was “tremendous”. At age twelve, she ran away with a man over 25 years old, whom she met while dancing. Her parents searched everywhere for her, found her and forced her to marry that man.Then she started formally working as a fisher and, over the next thirty years, has twelve children from several “marriages”. Those marriages ended because of infidelity, economic exploitation, and physical violence. So, at age 40, she decided not to have partner anymore and began spending a lot of time camping in Los Algodones, a coastal area at the edge of the desert. Meanwhile, her children still live in the house that Mercedes’ father left her in the town. The big family, poverty and cramped living space cause constant tension among she, her children, grandchildren and great-grand children. So Mercedes keeps going back to the coast, where no one judges her and there is no need to fight. But as she gets older -her body is getting weaker and she begins to get Alzheimer’s-, she doesn’t go to the sea as often. Even though she doesn’t know how to swim, she says she owns the sea and she will die there, then become a siren. 

 She was adopted by another family when she was just a baby, but she always made time to visit her original family. When she was 9, she decided to go back, but she regretted it for the rest of her life. Her brothers were bullies, her mother was

 She was adopted by another family when she was just a baby, but she always made time to visit her original family. When she was 9, she decided to go back, but she regretted it for the rest of her life. Her brothers were bullies, her mother was violent, and Armida had to take over her family’s fishing camps. There, she took care of her siblings, worked very hard and lit bonfires to scare away coyotes. At age 14, she ran away with a man who was over 60 years old. Unfortunately, this man raped her, but she was too afraid of their violence at home, she didn’t return until a year later to give birth to her first child. After she broke up with her “first partner”, she not only started to take care of herself, but also tried to build a home. At forty, after five unfaithful and abusive partners and a dozen children, she decided to stay single. By that time, she had managed to build a modest house of her own. She’s a very strong woman who still goes fishing in the estuary today. She still wonders, “Was it me who was wrong?” -referring to her experiences with her partners-. At age 75, she started to have trouble with Alzheimer, which have gotten worse in the last years and makes it harder for her to go fishing. Although Armida swims joyfully, unlike her sister Mercedes, she refuses to call herself a siren. 

Yeung commenced her career as the scriptwriter for fiction film Rest on Your Shoulder (2011), directed by Jacob Cheung and being Yeung’s screenwriter debut, was considered a pioneering hybrid of animation and live-action film in the times and

Yeung commenced her career as the scriptwriter for fiction film Rest on Your Shoulder (2011), directed by Jacob Cheung and being Yeung’s screenwriter debut, was considered a pioneering hybrid of animation and live-action film in the times and selected in competition at the Shanghai International Film Festival in the same year. 

From 2011 onwards, Yeung works in different projects as producer and scriptwriter. Her recent producing works include the comedy Hotel Soul Good (2018, Udine Far East Film Festival) and The Lady Improper (2019, closing film of CinemAsia Film Festival, in competition at the Osaka Asian Film Festival).

Co-founded documentary studio The Lady Improper Company Limited with art enthusiast Vien Ip, Yeung makes her directorial debut in documentary short The Cloud Learner and produces the documentary film The Siren Song,directed by Mexican director Eden Bernal, currently in postproduction.

In 2019, Yeung produced and wrote the animation Another World (Grand Prize of the DigiCon6 Asia Award, Japan 2019) that garnered eminent international awards and acclaims, whose feature-length pitch won the HAF Fiction Award (Hong Kong Project) in 2020 and the project was also selected in the Annecy International Animation Film Festival’s Work-in-progress, now in postproduction.

She then produced and created an animated VR film called Silili & Tree (2021) which won Hong Kong ICT Awards Digital Entertainment (Interaction Design) Silver Award and was invited to The Busan Film Festival 2023 - Community BIFF. 

She worked on projects such as: Yuban, winner of the Ariel 2012; Fractal, official selection of the Malaga Film Festival 2020; El Último Pájaro, Eco Film Festival selection; Días de Invierno, selection for Los Cabos Festival Work in Progress

She worked on projects such as: Yuban, winner of the Ariel 2012; Fractal, official selection of the Malaga Film Festival 2020; El Último Pájaro, Eco Film Festival selection; Días de Invierno, selection for Los Cabos Festival Work in Progress and official selection of FICUNAM, among others. She recently made her debut film, En el Murmullo del Viento, which has won more than ten awards and selections in film festivals in Latin America, U.S. and Canada. 

Director and Editor of Documentary Films. Her academic background began with a Bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences from the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, México. She later completed a Master's degree in Creative Documentary at the

Director and Editor of Documentary Films. Her academic background began with a Bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences from the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, México. She later completed a Master's degree in Creative Documentary at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a diploma in Essay Film at EICTV in Cuba. 

Gabriela’s career has been recognized by the National System of Art Creators (FONCA). Her films have been showcased at festivals such as IDFA, Locarno, Morelia International Film Festival, FICUNAM, Havana Film Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, Cartagena International Film Festival, among others. 

Her work is enriched by interdisciplinary experiences surrounding essayistic narratives and explorations of self-referential cinema, always in relation to her interest in dance and the environment. She has created various essay films and video dance pieces that have shaped her artistic vision and unique style, all supported by the Young Creators grants from FONCA.

She has participated in renowned forums such as Berlinale Talent Campus, DocStation, Walden Residencies, Flaherty Film Seminar, as well as the Conecta Chile, PlataformaIB and RoughCutLab laboratories of DocMontevideo.