My Paradise

Directed & Produced by: Nicolas Muñoz

Stage:
- Post Production
Location:
- Argentina
Updated: April 3, 2026
Project Type:
- Short
Project Style:
- Narrative/Doc Mix,
- Personal
Theme Subject:
- Biographical / Portrait,
- Social / Cultural

Logline

Labeled "crazy" by her neighbors, Susana has turned her home into a hospice for the unwanted. Her chaotic sanctuary holds a mirror to a hyperconnected world that has lost the time to care.

Clips

Teaser

Synopsis

In a Buenos Aires apartment, Susana (70) lives alongside 60 'disposable' animals. Yet, My Paradise is not an animal rescue story. It is an urgent exploration of true connection in an age of digital isolation.

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While the outside world is hyper-connected yet deeply lonely, Susana has built a fortress of radical intimacy, where time slows down simply to care for another living being. Through her visceral bond with the 'broken'.

As Susana exhausts her final resources and her health falters, the film immerses us in the stark contrast between the resilience of Avellana, a two-legged dog who defies pity—the film uses her extreme reality to challenge our own sanity:

Who is truly disconnected? The woman surrounded by chaos and life, or a society trapped in the solitude of the infinite scroll?

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Background

Why This Story and Why Now? We are living in an era defined by Time Poverty. In our relentless pursuit of hyper-efficiency, we have depleted the most essential resource required for empathy: time itself. "My Paradise" moves beyond the niche of animal rescue to address this universal deficit. While we scroll through curated lives on screens, lacking the bandwidth to stop, Susana engages in the messy, time-consuming act of real care. Her choice to dedicate her life to the

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Production Access & Methodology: The "Crew of One" To capture the raw intimacy of Susana’s fortress without disrupting its fragile ecosystem, I adopted a strict "Crew of One" methodology. This was not a budgetary compromise, but an artistic necessity. A traditional crew would have sterilized the chaos; by working alone, I became part of the environment, allowing for a sensory immersion that a full production team would have destroyed. This access allows the viewer to feel the claustrophobia and the tenderness up close, transforming the viewing experience from passive observation into active participation.

Target Audience & Market This film is designed for the inquisitive, socially conscious audiences of platforms. It targets viewers aged 25-45 who are digitally native but increasingly critical of modern isolation. The story bridges the gap between character-driven documentary and social commentary, appealing to both animal welfare advocates and those interested in mental health, aging, and societal values.

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Participants

Susana Pagliettini

Main Character

Participant

Susana Pagliettini

Main Character

Susana Pagliettini is a prominent animal advocate and community leader from San Fernando, Buenos Aires. Her path into activism wasn't a sudden choice, but rather a natural "flow" that eventually transformed her home into a sanctuary for animals in critical condition.
For over a decade, Susana has been a cornerstone of the local rescue community. Beyond providing direct care for sick and abandoned animals, she has become a powerful voice for systemic change. She was a key figure behind the "San Fernando Free of Pyrotechnics" campaign, working alongside social organizations to protect animals, children with autism, and the elderly from the harmful effects of high-decibel fireworks.
Her story is one of profound personal sacrifice. She traded a quiet life of cinema, theater, and uninterrupted sleep for the 24/7 demands of rescue work. Despite the exhaustion, her biography remains a testament to a simple truth: for Susana, helping isn't just something she does—it’s who she is.

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Style & Tone

Visual Language: From Claustrophobia to Connection The film employs a raw, tactile cinéma vérité style that refuses to look away. Initially, the camera immerses the viewer in the sensory overload of the apartment—the chaos, the crowding, and the textures of decay—challenging the audience's comfort zone. However, the lens never judges; it witnesses.

As the narrative progresses, the visual journey shifts from the environment to the human soul. Using extreme

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As the narrative progresses, the visual journey shifts from the environment to the human soul. Using extreme close-ups and a shallow depth of field, we isolate Susana from the clutter, transforming the screen into a study of textures: her weather-beaten hands, the depth in her eyes, and her tender interactions with the animals. This proximity forces the audience to look at her, not just at her surroundings, bridging the gap between initial revulsion and profound intimacy.

Tone: Radical Empathy over Pity The tone is unflinching yet strictly non-sensationalist. The film actively subverts typical "hoarding" tropes that focus on pathology and isolation. Instead, we highlight Susana’s surprising integration with the world outside her door. Through observational sequences, we see her navigating the streets with kindness and stoicism. She is not a victim; she is a protagonist on a mission.

By juxtaposing the harsh reality of her home with the softness of her philosophy—one devoid of hate or complaint—the film guides the audience toward a complex admiration. We aim for radical empathy: leading the viewer to realize that beneath the layers of grit lies a pure, perhaps superior, understanding of unconditional love.

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Team

Nicolas Muñoz

Director & Producer

Team

Nicolas Muñoz

Director & Producer

Nicolás Muñoz Documentary Filmmaker & DOP | Buenos Aires, Argentina He studied photography and cinematography at ORT schools, later specializing in documentary filmmaking at INA (France), and honing his craft at UBA (Argentina) and Maine Media College (USA). At age 24, after graduating from film school, he began a 13-year career as a correspondent for Associated Press Television. Covering breaking news across Latin America and beyond, Muñoz reported from extraordinary places and captured urgent, human-centered stories. In 2014, with two young children, he made the difficult decision to leave the news world—stepping away from a stable path into one that was more uncertain, especially financially. He shifted his focus from news to longform documentary work, channeling his journalistic experience into a visual storytelling style that blends strong imagery, emotion, and narrative clarity—even in complex or sensitive environments. In 2018, he won Best Adventure Film at the Banff Film Festival in Canada. Since then, his work has continued to evolve across formats and platforms, earning recognition such as the Sony World Photography Award in 2024 and becoming a Sony Alpha Partner. Today, he collaborates with NGOs, broadcasters, and institutions to tell grounded, human-centered stories with lasting impact. His work explores the intersections of social justice, environmental crisis, and resilience. With a deeply personal approach and a collaborative mindset, Muñoz often works directly with communities to amplify their voices and build powerful narratives from the ground up.

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Noe Couto

Consulting Editor

Team

Noe Couto

Consulting Editor

Noelia Couto (SAE / EDA) – Consulting Editor An accomplished film editor and post-production coordinator with a strong foothold in Argentine cinema. An active member of SAE and EDA, her recent credits include the feature La Ruptura (2024) and the award-winning short El Vendaval. Her background as a festival juror brings a critical, structural eye to My Paradise, essential for refining the film’s final narrative arc.

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Budget

This section includes information about this project.

Screenplay production cinema film director creative independent team camera story team festival doc. Independent narrative producer award film independent editing doc production visual visual screenplay.

Rights

This section includes information about this project.

Story journey camera creative narrative festival production editing award editing festival story. Team visual project creative director independent visual team project journey editing festival narrative visual producer.

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Our Ask

Why This Film Now? – We live in an era of hyper-efficiency, where time is currency and "wasting" it is a sin. In this context, empathy has become a luxury we claim we cannot afford. We scroll past suffering because stopping requires a resource we no longer possess: our attention.

"My Paradise" is urgent because Susana is a glitch in this system. She dedicates her life to the "invisible"—beings with no economic value. By doing so, she challenges our definition of sanity: Who is truly crazy? The woman who sacrifices everything to nurture life, or a society too busy to notice it is losing its soul? This is not just a film about animal rescue; it is a mirror asking us if we still have time to be human.

Status and What We Need The project is currently in Post-Production, with principal photography fully completed. We are now seeking Strategic Partners to join the team:

Creative Producer & Consulting Editor: To help refine the narrative arc and challenge the storytelling, ensuring the film transcends the "rescue documentary" genre and lands as a powerful social portrait.
Impact & Distribution Partners: We seek allies who share our vision to position this story beyond the festival circuit, using it as a tool for essential conversations about empathy, mental health, and coexistence.

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My Paradise

Logline

Clips

Participants

Susana Pagliettini

Susana Pagliettini

Team

Nicolas Muñoz

Nicolas Muñoz

Noe Couto

Noe Couto

Budget

Rights

Stills

Our Ask