In this short, filmmaker Danny Navarro creates an affectionate portrait of his eccentric and exuberant neighbor, Miguel, an unconventional costume designer whose house is filled with a 70-year accumulation of recycled objects—fruit cartons, peacock feathers, and pill bottles—that he turns into brilliant costumes and sculptures. He displays his artworks in front of his house on McAllister Street in San Francisco, adding to the technicolor exuberance of the city. Miguel also reflects on his life and on a community coming together at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Shot on 16mm film and interwoven with home footage, the distinction between Miguel’s past and present blur in his spirited storytelling: He is a man who has mastered the simple magic of seeing ordinary things differently.  KL

Filmmaker Q&A available

Closed Captioning available