BBFF2025 - Comparsa

After the screening of Comparsa at Brunswick Picture House, join a vital community panel with Mandy Nolan, Mayor Sarah Ndiaye and Simone O’Brien exploring the realities of women’s safety in our region. We’ll confront hard truths, amplify lived experiences, and explore practical pathways to action.

In a Guatemalan barrio silenced by fear, two teenage sisters lead a luminous rebellion - unleashing giant puppets, fire, and artful performance to protest gender violence in a joyful fight for survival.

Comparsa fully immerses audiences in the intense world of Ciudad Peronia, Guatemala, where sisters Lesli and Lupe use art and performance to rally local youth and heal deep wounds.

After 41 girls are killed in a State-run “Safe Home” and the government refuses to act, the sisters respond with a community comparsa - an exuberant street performance featuring towering puppets, fire-breathing stilt walkers, and thundering drums. With brave vulnerability, they expose a power structure that permits and commits violence against women, and they open up about surviving violence in their own home. Their youth movement takes to the streets, confronting corruption and reclaiming public space for women and girls. Rooting their efforts in joy and community care, they find healing for themselves along the way.

Comparsa is built on a 15-year relationship between the subjects and the film team to offer a stirring portrait of sisterhood, peacebuilding, and the transformational power of art.

Screens with short films.
As a BBFF ticketholder, you can also enjoy 10% off at Mainstreet Burger and Tokyo Doll Byron Bay before 6pm each day of the festival (17-26 October) – just show your ticket when ordering.

VENUE INFORMATION: Please note the Brunswick Picture House is located in Brunswick Heads NSW, in the Northern Rivers region (not in Brunswick VIC). Please select your tickets carefully as no refund or credit will be granted for errors in identifying the venue location.

When completing your ticket purchase online via Eventfinda, tickets are usually emailed within 10 minutes of your purchase confirmation. Please ensure that your email address is correctly entered in your purchase and be sure to check your Junk Mail or Spam folders if you haven’t received your tickets. Eventfinda also contacts all ticketholders with show information via email, so be sure to check these folders.