Filmmakers With MDC Ties Produce ‘Miami Story’ About Single Mom’s Financial Struggles
When Jose Navas’ parents moved to Miami from Nicaragua in 1985, they sold porcelain figurines, dishware and bathroom decorations at the now-defunct Flagler Flea Market.
Inspired by his childhood, Navas, now a rising filmmaker, developed Awake Before Dawn, an 18-minute short film that narrates the story of a single mother with two sons—Santi and Luca—struggling to make a living selling purses, clothing and candles at the Opa Locka Flea Market.
“It’s a sweet family story about struggle, survival and love,” said Navas, who created his own production company nine years ago named FlickHouse Studios.
Navas,38, hopes to make the movie available to audiences nationwide later this spring.
Awake Before Dawn started as a pitch for the Indeed’s Rising Voices film fellowship before Navas decided to self-produce the film after expanding the script to 10 pages.
To make the movie, Navas, who previously directed Beat Lingo, With His Eyes Closed and El Balsero, reached out to filmmakers Carlos Andujar and Vanessa Gimenez to produce the project. Andujar and Gimenez, who both have Miami Dade College ties, previously worked with Navas on Beat Lingo and With His Eyes Closed.
“Having to work hard and having strong perseverance is relatable to me,” said Andujar, who is pursuing an associate’s degree in English at Miami Dade College. “That was the biggest interest for me during [Awake Before Dawn].”
Andujar and Gimenez were tasked with casting, scouting for filming locations and overseeing the project’s logistics.
Before starting production, the movie encountered its first obstacles. A month before filming started, the Opa Locka Flea Market closed its doors.
“We’re like ‘oh my god like we’re going to have to find another flea market,” said Gimenez, who served a two-year stint as a staff writer and photographer for The Reporter before graduating from Eduardo J. Pádron Campus in 2020. “We didn’t know what we were going to do.”
Three weeks after receiving the closing notice, the Opa Locka Flea Market gave the production team a 90-day extension to finish Awake Before Dawn.
“We were literally fighting with time,” said Navas, who earned a bachelor’s degree in film from the Miami International University of Arts & Design in 2003. “That motivated me because I knew I had an opportunity to capture a piece of this flea market and tell a story.”
But that was not the last hurdle the team would face.
A week before filming started, the crew’s main camera was shipped to New York for emergency maintenance. Staff also had to arrive at the flea market by 5 a.m. to set up tents, props and equipment to accommodate the schedule of the movie’s two child actors—ages 6 and 9.
“Working with minors always has some challenges,” said Angel Barroeta, who served as the film’s photography director. “We have to work fast and do as much as we can when we have their attention and energy.”
In total, the film’s production was completed in five months with a $13,000 budget.
“[Awake Before Dawn] was supposed to be a very small project and it became something really big and something really beautiful,” said Gimenez, who graduated from Emerson College in Boston last year and now works as a technical production coordinator at NBCUniversal. “This made me realize how much I like telling stories.”
The group has high hopes for the film. On Jan. 14, they will host a private screening at Cascabel Studios in Doral.
Navas said he recently learned that the film was selected to be part of the Miami Film Festival, which will be held from March 3 to 12.
“I just wanted it to be seen here first,” Navas said. “This story is a Miami story.”
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