TATI CHAVITAGE (they/them) is a boston, ma based artist working in the fields of nonfiction and experimental film.
they look to the latino anthropological notion of nepantla, in which one finds themselves ‘in the middle’ of multiple identities—to be latine and queer, and either “not enough” or “too much” of these identities. chavitage finds themselves positioned within a similar liminality, as a nonbinary person and the american child of a nicaraguan immigrant. their work is its own constantly revised and repositioned story of nepantla, of finding peace and conflict within the transitory space that exists at the border of white and indigenous, masculine and feminine, colonizer and colonized, home and abroad, monstrous and beautiful.
chavitage has a m.f.a. in film and media arts through the emerson college and a b.a. in film and digital media from the university of california, santa cruz. they’re a founding member of the bedratz art collective and the burning down the house festival. they’re passionate about community arts events and things that are supposed to be ugly.
artist statement
i am a nonfiction filmmaker who creates personal inquiries between myself and my loved ones as a means of examining these relationships through a literally abstracting and emotionally sharpening lens. i see each project as a space to hold unresolved emotions and to work through them through close examination. in this way, the process of my work is a dialogue between myself and the subject, with the goal of learning something new by the time i reach a final product. much of my work includes the repurposing of primary source elements, abstracting and molding them to display their emotional rather than literal essence. this cutting and pasting is less about destruction and more about working to find something new among the scraps. i’ve found that the resulting work balances a melancholy acceptance for the way things are with a desire to find comfort and safety, which forms a bittersweet bridge.
my fascination with primary source materials manifests itself in a continuing practice with analog film, vhs home movies, and ephemera like handwritten notes and paper documents. looking to work with items that feel as tangible as possible, my works have a handcrafted and organic energy, even when brought into a digital space.
SCREENINGS & Awards
burning down the house, exclusive pre-screening, pallbearers, 2025.
emerson college, m.f.a. thesis screening, exclusive pre-screening, pallbearers, 2025.
emerson college, m.f.a. 500 grant, 2024.
pill, projected visuals, untitled, 2024.
marblehead festival of arts, official selection, niña, 2024.
ultra dogme, official selection, experimental shorts by trans filmmakers, ew, 2024.
wicked queer, official selection, ew, 2024.
wicked queer, best in show audience award, ew, 2024.
salem film festival, official selection, niña, 2024.
emerson college, it’s all true, official selection, of myself, 2024.
emerson college, green production grant, 2023.
emerson college, is this too much, group show, [ ] of pain, 2023.
agx film collective, soup16, official selection, niña, 2023.
emerson college, m.f.a. fellowship, 2022-2025.
film production coalition film festival, official selection, companion, 2020.
porter gulch review, best prose winner, creature comforts, 2019.
cabrillo college, english department writing award for screenwriting, 2019.
boone/little mermaid scholarship, creature comforts, 2019.
tati chavitage 