WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BELIEF OUTLIVES SIGHT
Princess Magnolia and the Golden Breasts
Princess Magnolia and the Golden Breasts is a poetic documentary that follows master potter José García as he pursues a lifelong dream. Guided by love, memory, and imagination, he sets out to meet the mermaids he has believed in since childhood.
After becoming blind, José began sculpting Teresita’s face each day so he would never forget her. Over time, her likeness often merged with the form of a mermaid, half woman and half myth, where love and belief become inseparable.
The film captures José’s first journey to the ocean since losing his vision. Guided by Teresita, his partner and muse, José approaches the water dressed as a merman, crowned with seashells, setting out to finally meet the mythical beings he has believed in all his life.
film overview
Princess Magnolia and the Golden Breasts follows José García, an 80-year-old blind potter from Oaxaca who has always believed in mermaids.
Long before he lost his sight, José grew up hearing his mother’s stories about the most beautiful women in the world living beneath the sea. Those stories stayed with him for a lifetime, quietly weaving themselves into his work and into his love for his wife, Teresita.
the journey to the ocean
For years José imagined the sea.
The stories his mother told him as a child never faded. Even after losing his sight, he carried the quiet conviction that the mermaids she described were still waiting somewhere beyond the horizon.
Princess Magnolia and the Golden Breasts follows José as he returns to the ocean for the first time since becoming blind.
Dressed as a merman and guided by the woman he loves, he approaches the water not as spectacle, but as the fulfillment
of a lifelong dream.
the artist
josé garcía antonio
José García is a master ceramic artist from San Antonino Castillo Velasco, Oaxaca. Known for expressive, sculptural figures inspired by mythology, animals, and memory, his work reflects stories passed through generations. After losing his sight, he continued sculpting by touch, guided by memory and his wife’s voice. Now internationally recognized, he still works from his longtime studio.
meet josé
obakki films
Obakki Films is a documentary platform dedicated to telling deeply human stories rooted in craft, culture, and place. These films emerge from Obakki’s long-standing relationships with artisan communities built through years of collaboration.
This foundation allows for a level of intimacy and trust rarely possible in traditional documentary production.
Each film is created as a lasting cultural artifact that honors the dignity, creativity, and lived experience of the artists whose stories are being told.
