The colorful streets of Downtown San Antonio lit up the way to Screenville’s musical debut premiere on March 11 at the Texas Public Radio’s Irma and Emilio Nicolas Media Center. Written and directed by Screenville co-founder Vanessa Rae Lerma, “SweetNess” encapsulates Tejano culture through nostalgic musical numbers and a perseverance for dreaming big.
Throughout the red carpet, local women-owned businesses were seen selling traditional Mexican pastries, handmade accessories and T-shirts. People gathered near the vendors as they eagerly waited for the screening to commence.
Crowded lines started to rapidly make their way through the theater’s doors. As the audience settled, cast members and film crew entered at last with cheers following them as they took their respective seats. The screening began with Lerma’s first web series, “Most Likely To,” a six-episode mini series revolving around Latino and LGBTQ+ teenagers navigating awkward social situations.
The mini series was catastrophically comedic. Suggestive innuendos and jokes that could fly over one’s head filled the series’s dialogue, and although some jokes were overplayed, the show quickly regained attention as the final episode commenced.
“SweetNess” follows the story of a young Latina baker who successfully runs a bakery with her aunt. Her dream of opening her own bakery seemed impossible as she struggled finding perfection within her pastries. The 16-minute musical portrayed the perseverance to follow one’s own dreams through Tejano-inspired music and a proud colorful spotlight on the city of San Antonio.
The film starts with the baker singing a melody telling of her backstory. Vivid scenes furnished the film with a sense of nostalgia and cheerfulness, yet as the film progressed the story took a different turn, leaving the audience in awe with its conclusion.
“I used to bake in college,” Lerma enthusiastically explained. “I found out a couple years ago when my great grandparents, when they came over from Mexico, they were bakers, and they opened up panaderias!”
The former theater teacher has worked in musicals ever since her teaching days, and has made them for the San Antonio and New York communities.
“I worked with the lead, Elizabeth, for 10 years, and it feels full circle,” she reminisced. It’s a brand new project, and I think it showcases our city. It showcases our culture both visually and musically.”
“This is my dream coming true,” main star Elizabeth Raquel Ramirez expressed. “I always wanted to originate a role in a musical, and this is my role.”
“I love musical theater a lot,” the long-time actress said. “It’s one of the things I love to do most, and you know, I love doing plays and film and TV, and so getting to put all of those things together was just like the icing on top.”
“It’s awesome having younger people on set,” director of photography and executive producer Sam Lerma revealed.
“They’re inspired to do work, and sometimes we feed off of that energy, and it’s great to have young people creating,” Lerma explained. “We´ve noticed a resurgence since Northwest Vista and UTSA created these programs. There’s a lot of young filmmakers that there weren’t before, which is awesome. But the only way that that’s gonna keep happening is when people support these films.”
“SweetNess” provoked excitement between the public as well as a significant encouragement to San Antonio filmmakers and creative projects by the community. The local filmmaking scene of San Antonio is continuously growing, and this night proved that love and support for the arts will make the “Alamo City” the next center of the film industry.
