You See Me Now?
Directed by Quinton T.Perez
United States · 2026 · 4 min 24 sec · Drama
Submitted to RTV International Film Festival 2026Synopsis
You See Me Now is a spoken-word short film about a young man confronting the people gathered to mourn him after his death. Looking back at the child he once was, he traces a path through innocence, pain, judgment, addiction, and isolation—questioning why the suffering that went unseen in life becomes impossible to ignore in death. Through fragmented memories and symbolic imagery, the film asks a painful question: why do we sometimes give people more compassion after they die than while they are struggling to stay alive?
Director(s)
Boston-born and raised in Dorchester, Quinton T. Perez developed his worldview while moving between dramatically different environments. Growing up in a harsh urban neighborhood exposed him early to addiction, violence, poverty, resilience, community, and the complicated ways people learn to survive their circumstances. Those experiences shaped both his perspective and his writing, providing much of the real-life inspiration behind the characters, environments, and conflicts explored in his work. At the same time, being educated in a wealthy suburban town and spending time in Honduras exposed him to communities and ways of life that often felt like entirely different worlds. Moving between Dorchester, suburban Massachusetts, and Honduras made him acutely aware of how differently people can experience the world—and how easily people can misunderstand lives they have never had to live. Writing became a way for Perez to make sense of what he witnessed and experienced. His voice is heavily influenced by his perspective as a mixed-race Black Honduran navigating different cultures, communities, and social realities. His work draws from those contrasts to explore childhood, identity, addiction, masculinity, trauma, judgment, survival, and the humanity that can be overlooked when people are reduced to their circumstances.
Film stills
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RTV International Film Festival — Inaugural Online Edition · 2026