Jemsen Yumico Bollozos keeps an eye out for the emotion. The Las Vegas filmmaker once uncovered it in a video series for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, humanizing the work of Strip magician Shin Lim, neon bender Oscar Gonzalez, and chef and restaurant owner Natalie Young.

She did it again when she wrote and directed a 2018 short film about the surrealism of sleep paralysis, and again when she applied her experience as a dancer to the 2019 short Reflection.

Since Bollozos graduated from UNLV in 2019, she’s co-founded local art collective and creative media company Eccentric Artists, earned three Emmy awards for her LVCVA series, At the Heart of Vegas, which Frequency Pictures produced, and she's directed Home: A Mother of 3000, a feature-length documentary about local nonprofit Positively Arts and its passionate founder Pilitia Simpson. That film, supported by Playstudios’ Impact Fund, recently won Best Nevada Film at the 10th annual Nevada Women’s Film Festival.

What was it about Positively Arts that resonated with you?

The first day meeting with Pilita … our producer, Tiffanie, who is a part of Eccentric Artists, she cried. When [Pilitia] looks at you, she looks at you as if she’s trying to get to know you. She’s really looking into your soul, and it makes you feel seen. The first thing that came to my mind was where were you when I was growing up? I wish that there were more adults like that. I think this documentary is very educational for how we actually interact as human beings. How we interact with kids, and not just seeing them as kids. They have their own personality. They have their own character. That’s what forced me to say, I really want to make this documentary, because it also resonates with my childhood feelings.

I love how Pilita talks about genuinely asking kids what they want to be when they grow up and taking it seriously. What did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a kid, I either wanted to be an actor or a teacher. I don’t know why, but I liked teaching. I could see that now with our workshop … I wanted to help people. I also liked learning. I grew up in the Philippines, so I was doing ballet there. When I got here, I quit ballet for personal reasons. When you’re in ballet, there’s a mirror and everyone is doing the best they can. But sometimes with self-doubt and insecurities, it’s brutal. I had to step away from that. But I really wanted the adrenaline back, so I went to graphic design.

I thought graphic would be good for me. But there was something wrong. I wanted to do more stuff. I was watching [2010 film] Morning Glory with Rachel McAdams, and she was pointing out on the screens “do that, do that, do that.” And I’m like, I want that. That was the kind of stress I wanted but it felt great. I thought it was broadcasting for me, and then I realized wait, it’s actually the storytelling that I really like. So I got into filmmaking at UNLV.

What are some of your favorite films?

I like Mulholland Drive a lot. It really scares the hell out of me, but I love Lost Highway, just because David Lynch is so weird. He wants you to be scared, and I like it. His goal is to be really weird and to make you scared and uncomfortable. I also love David Fincher, and [The Curious Case of] Benjamin Button. It’s very different from David Lynch’s stuff but … there’s some very mellow dramatic moments.

You were raised in the Philippines and now reside in Las Vegas. Has living in both places influenced your craft at all?

Definitely. I have this film called Reflection, which is about a ballet dancer. It’s almost like a Black Swan type of situation. Then I have, almost during the same time, a documentary about a ballet dancer (laughs). It always just kind of balances out. The documentary is about a ballet dancer who had an injury and how she overcomes that situation. That also reflects back home to when I was training.

This is a little bit personal, but in Reflection, the story’s about having this identity crisis. When I was in the Philippines, I found out that my dad is not my actual dad, and that he’s actually Chinese. So not only did I find out that that’s not my dad, but I also found out that I’m half Chinese. I remember looking at the mirror like, It should be fine. It should be the same because it’s still me. But I feel different. That’s why in my films, there’s a lot of mirrors and always that [theme of] identity.

Las Vegas becoming Hollywood 2.0 is a big topic right now. How do you feel about that as a local filmmaker?

I’m very excited about it, because I feel like now I don’t have to go to LA. It’s here. But the reason why I stayed in Vegas is because I already had a feeling that Vegas was growing. That’s why Eccentric Artists is also based here.

Has Eccentric Artists become what you originally envisioned?

Yes, it’s getting there. In 2020, we started Eccentric Artists during lockdown because we were just lonely people. We were just needing friends, so we started doing online events for filmmakers. Then it kind of grew from the film community aspect to the Shameless Plug [Arts Festival]. Shameless Plug is actually a celebration. It’s an anniversary for our creation. We transitioned from just being a film community to doing different mediums of arts. But our ultimate goal is for Eccentric Artists to actually have a space. Our dream is to have a community hub for all the things we do.

Tell us about your next project.

“Gamu-Gamo” means “moth” in the Philippines. So it’s a narrative short film that we’re in pre-production right now. In the Philippines, there’s this tradition where when your loved one passes away, before they go to the afterlife, they become a moth and they visit you. The character, her grandma passes away, and there’s a moth just lingering around. The character, she’s almost estranged from her family. She’s living out of state, and just coming back and having all these mixed feelings. She misses her family, but then she remembers why she left. It’s basically how it feels and how it looks living in a Filipino household.

Home is hitting the festival circuit now. As a director, what’s been the most rewarding part about getting this out into the world?

One is Pilitia being happy about it, and how the kids reacted to it. A lot of the audience were like, I’m gonna bring my kids to Positively Arts. That’s rewarding for me, because that’s the mission. The crew has been wonderful about working on this documentary. There’s an overwhelming feeling of we did this. We made this film and it feels great. There’s something really nice about this being an almost majority women-led [project]. You feel safe, you feel secure. You’re welcome to voice your doubts, or fears. It’s a very supportive environment. But also being at Positively Arts, a space that already nurtures and has cared, just amplified everything.

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