Motos: A Short Film in the Wake of Wildfire
Meet Boulder Creek Filmmaker Jesus Beltran
By Mary Andersen
In the rugged heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where redwoods still bear scars of the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fire, Jesus Beltran’s short film Motos captures a story of family and brotherhood. Released in March 2025 and currently on the festival circuit, this 20-minute drama, filmed in Boulder Creek, has earned a 9.8/10 IMDb rating and accolades at prestigious festivals like Cinequest, IndyShorts, and Santa Fe IFF, all Oscar-qualifying events. The film, shot on Beltran’s property and neighboring lands, dives into the lives of immigrant loggers, reflecting the resilience of a community rebuilding after a wildfire that consumed over 86,000 acres, including parts of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. For Beltran, a first-generation Mexican-American, Motos is both a personal and universal story, rooted in the dignity of everyday people navigating life and its moral crossroads.
Photo 1: Jesus Beltran, Evan Weidenkeller, Rafael Cobos Delgado, and Bobby Soto Beltran; Photo 2: Rafael Cobos Delgado, and Bobby Soto Beltran; Photo 3: Motos movie poster
Motos centers on cousins Frank and Benito, portrayed by Bobby Soto and Rafael Cobos Delgado. Frank, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, masks his fear of ICE raids with a flippant vibe, while Benito is weighed by family and financial obligations. As loggers in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a routine job unearths something buried in the forest floor. Beltran keeps the discovery vague, emphasizing the cousins’ fractured bond and the emotional weight of their choices. “It’s not about the thing they find,” Beltran told MovieMaker in July 2025. “It’s about what it forces them to face.” In our interview, he elaborated, “The original inspiration for MOTOS came from meeting day laborers here in Boulder Creek. After the CZU fires, it was clear to me that these men were a critical part of the rebuilding efforts. I was fascinated that men from a totally different part of the world, some from Mexico, others from Central or South America — had landed in our pocket of the forest and become so essential to these efforts.”
Filmmaker Jesus Beltran at the Indy Shorts Interational Film Festival
Beltran, a Stanford engineering graduate who divides his work time between Silicon Valley and filmmaking, brings authenticity to Motos. His earlier shorts, The Grass Grows Green and Twenty Bucks, screened at Sundance and SXSW, and his feature-length screenplay was selected for the Sundance Producing Labs. I was one of those kids who always had a video camera in hand, making little movies with friends,” Beltran said. “So, filmmaking was always a passion of mine. But when I went to college, it didn’t seem like a practical career path. Over fifteen years ago, after a few years working in tech, I decided to take a leap of faith and write and direct a short film. It was a bit of a gamble, because outside of a basic photography and video editing class, I was totally self taught.”
In Motos, the forest itself is a character, alive with birdsong while we know that its residents’ rebuilding and regrowth remains stalled by bureaucratic inertia, mirroring the cousins’ lives. Similarly, Beltran, who moved to the Boulder Creek in 2017, voiced frustrations in a 2022 commentary on the Reimagining Big Basin Project, advocating for local stakeholder voices who know the land intimately over top-down bureaucracy.
The film’s themes transcend immigration, focusing on universal struggles. “I’m interested in portraying immigrants as normal people,” Beltran said. “Motos is about family, selfishness versus selflessness, and that moment when a decision defines you.” Critics have praised its raw authenticity, with Yahoo Entertainment noting, “Beltran lets them be flawed, because that’s real,” and calling the ambiguous ending “a gut-punch that lingers.” For San Lorenzo Valley locals, Motos reflects their community’s grit, amplified by Beltran’s use of local resources — his neighbor, a motorcycle expert, and a local arborist provided expertise, while additional scenes were shot at Johnnie’s Market and behind the Boulder Creek Post Office.
Beltran’s connection to the San Lorenzo Valley deepened after the CZU fires. “I moved here in 2017, so the post-fire reality is my normal,” he said. “My house was saved by the Boulder Creek Volunteer Fire Department and CalFire, but the fires brought our community together. Neighbors help each other and have organized to give feedback on Big Basin rebuilding. Shooting Motos here felt right because of that support.” He hopes audiences see the dignity in everyone, regardless of background. “People from all corners of the world, who look or speak differently, are just like you — working hard for their families,” he said. “There’s respect in that.”
As Motos garners festival buzz and opens industry doors for Beltran’s team, he’s planning on more screenings. “We’ve received amazing feedback and gotten so much praise; it’s been wonderful. It has also opened up opportunities and meetings in the industry as my team is trying to develop future projects,” he noted. With a feature film in development, Beltran continues to dig into the human experience, proving that in an industry chasing blockbusters, small stories from places like Boulder Creek can fell giants.
For festival updates and screening details, follow @elzumpango and @zumpangofilms on Instagram.
Photos contributed by Jesus Beltran
Mary Andersen is a journalist and Publisher of the San Lorenzo Valley Post, an independent publication dedicated to the people, politics, environment, and cultures of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Contact mary@slvpost.com
