Meet Eva-Maria Tamez | Writer-Director-Actress

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eva-Maria Tamez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eva-Maria, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I have been immensely lucky to have parents who support me emotionally, and have the means to assist me financially If I ever need that sort of support. That is key, and the older I get, the more and more thankful I am for that blessing. I have always had secure community of close friends who want nothing more than to see me win and vise versa. Being backed by true supporters has kept my spirit for my dreams alive, through any calamity. I joke that Film has always been my first and my true love. There isn’t a world where it is not my career.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a writer~director~actress. I aim to be bold and wholly genuine in my creations. I have always enjoyed indie cinema, the works of Gregg Araki, Harmony Korine, Andrea Arnold, to name a few. I enjoy what I enjoy and I want to make films that I enjoy. Hopefully they speak to others along the way. My art doesn’t need to please the masses, it just needs to please a few. The biggest challenge I have overcome on this journey is frankly myself. I have shed so many layers of skin to become a better person, artist, director, daughter, friend. Released expectations, laziness, anger, even triumphs. I look for pleasure in my work, not pain. I aim for fulfillment not recognition. I have learned to be more sanguine amidst an industry akin to the wild wild west.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
It took some time for me to hand my heart over to Los Angeles, but when I did it was entirely. Some of my favorite places are All Things and More for community and to buy the most fascinating things that you didn’t know you needed. The Hammer Museum for inspiration, Little Brown Church on Coldwater for peace. Historic core to go back in time, Cicada Club for dancing, Il Caffé at the Eastern Columbia building for coffee with an Art Deco view, and anywhere in Topanga to just get away, especially the The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, and Inn of the Seventh Ray. And can’t forget The Bourgeois Pig, you are missed dearly.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents, of course, as well as audacious and eclectic filmmakers! All of my friends who so readily acted in my ATROCIOUS high school films. We once made our own version of American Horror Story Coven which I still cringe to to this day-but also…I kind of like it. I got a degree in film production and during those four years I made lifelong friends and artistic partners. People whom I still work with and rely on to this day. Without all of them I may never get anything done at all haha.

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@evafrom5to7

Image Credits
All photos and cinematography done by Victoria Pedroza Films featured; Venus in Love – Written, Directed, Produced, and Acted by Eva-Maria Tamez A Special Place for Women – Written, Directed, Produced, and Acted by Eva-Maria Tamez