38 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY MARCH 19-25, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com FILM The zebra is the official mascot of the rare disease community. It represents those patients whose symptoms are not readily understood. Such was the case with Jasmyn Ramirez, a 2024 CSU Monterey Bay cinematic arts graduate who was, as a sophomore, diagnosed with paraganglioma, a rare—2 in a million—type of cancer. The disease consumed her college experience, but also inspired an eight-minute film she created, When You Hear Hoofbeats. It’s one of many short documentaries that can be seen in Salinas during the Watsonville Film Festival, which began on March 12 and runs until March 21. Ramirez’s lifelong anxiety and abnormally high adrenaline levels had complex, not easily identifiable sources, starting with the first time she stumbled into a student health center and was diagnosed with appendicitis. At the same time, Ramirez grew up obsessed with animation that later evolved into an interest in video. When her instructor at CSUMB suggested she create a short narrative video piece, it seemed a natural thing to do. “The film kept me grounded,” Ramirez says. “I feel privileged and responsible to spread awareness.” Watching the documentary, the audience is “a prison to one frame,” she adds, explaining the one-frame technique was used on purpose to reflect her own imprisonment in her body by the disease. The Watsonville Film Festival, now in its 14th edition, started as a conversation over the fact that the local Latino community felt “misrepresented in every way,” says filmmaker Consuelo Alba, the festival’s director. She is showing her own new film, The Long Labor, that follows Watsonville midwife Maria Ramos Bracamontes, who helps Indigenous women who work in the fields. “I was very moved by her story,” Alba says. “I’m interested in stories where one person gives so much to others, against the odds.” It is not the first time the festival is coming to Monterey County; screenings in the past were organized by Palenke Arts in Seaside. This year the invitation came from Indie Basement Cinema from Salinas. The result is two days of screenings of local films, often student films, and mingling. “We are here to celebrate our community,” Alba says. Watsonville Film Festival runs through Saturday, March 21. Shorts program 6-8pm; after-party 8-10pm Thursday, March 19-Friday, March 20. Maya Cinemas, 153 Main St., Salinas. $12; $5/under 18. Parties at XL Public House, 127 Main St., Salinas. watsonvillefilmfest.org. JASMYN RAMIREZ Short Stop Watsonville Film Festival, themed ‘Art as Resistance,’ comes to Salinas for two days of documentaries. By Agata Popęda Jasmyn Ramirez transformed her pain due to a rare type of cancer into an eight-minute documentary. It screens Friday night, March 20, at Maya Cinemas. 59th Season | Sunset Center | 7:30 pm DOVER QUARTET WORKS BY: • Jessie Montgomery • Franz Joseph Haydn • Karol Szymanowski • Felix Mendelssohn CONCERT TICKETS $30-$75 KIDS UP FRONT & FREE Program! FREE: Students Grades 3-12 and Music Teachers Adult Chaperones $15 Call to inquire and reserve. – Chicago Tribune “Expert musicianship, razor-sharp ensemble, deep musical feeling and a palpable commitment to communication” MAR 28 2026 The Science of Christianity challenges conventional views of prayer, presenting it not as blind faith, but as a scientific understanding of God’s ever-present love. Saturday, March 21, 2026 11:00 am PDT First Church of Christ, Scientist 780 Abrego Street, Monterey An in-person talk on Christian Science by Caryl Emra Farkas, CSB Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship For more information, please call 831-920-2300 www.christiansciencemonterey.org Sponsored by First Church of Christ, Scientist, Monterey, California Can prayer be scientific?
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