XQL MEDIA
We are an award winning film production company located in the North Bay Area.
“Where cinema becomes
beauty, justice, healing and resilience .”
XQL Media transforms culture, memory and myth into film—producing documentaries, and films that preserve the past and document the present, re-imagining the future, through the voices of Chicana/Chicano, Caribbean, Black, Developmentally Disabled and Middle Eastern communities.
Now Streaming Our Award Winning Film Hyena!
When a woman battling alcohol addiction enters rehabilitation, what emerges is a bold and lyrical journey shaped by the power of words.
Hyena is a masterfully told story, carried through the haunting voice and unforgettable narrative of Mollena Williams-Haas.
True Humans is the story about residents of Sonoma Developmental Hospital who were evicted in 2018. The film premiered in 2019 and was produced by Xochiquetzal (XQL Media) and directed by Sonoma County film producer, director and writer Malinalli López Arreguín.
The documentary intimately chronicles the closure of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC), a state-run facility in Eldridge, California, which served individuals with developmental disabilities for over 125 years. Through poignant interviews with former residents and their families, the film captures the emotional and logistical challenges faced during the transition to community-based living arrangements following the center's shutdown in 2018.
The documentary features the story of Buck, affectionately known as Bucky as well as other residents who had lived there for many decades. For those familiar with Buck’s presence at the SDC bus stop, he was always dressed in yellow and enjoyed waving to others.
True Humans premiered at the Sebastiani Theatre on August 4, 2019, with proceeds supporting the Parent Hospital Association/Family Advocates United, and was subsequently screened at venues including the Raven Performing Arts Center, fostering community dialogue on the human impact of institutional closures.
UPCOMING FILMS
COMING SOON! OUR NEW DOCUMENTARY
CORAZÓN Y CHROME
Where the streets shine with chrome and hearts beat low and slow, Corazón Y Chrome is a movement born of love and rebellion.
In a world of polished chrome, slow rides, and streets alive with memory, Corazón Y Chrome is a hauntingly beautiful meditation on lowrider culture, grief, love, and healing. Beneath the shine of chrome is something deeper: a portrait of community as ceremony, rebellion as art, and healing as a collective act. Through intimate stories and unforgettable images, the film reveals how beauty can emerge from struggle—and how the streets can become a sacred space for remembrance, resilience, and transformation.
ANCESTRAL
STORYTELLING FOR A NEW ERA
Set in Northern California, City of Gods and Goddesses / Ciudad de Dioses y Diosas brings together the voices of Indigenous elders, healers, leaders, and culture bearers whose healing traditions offer profound ways of understanding how to live in the present and imagine the future. Through intimate interviews and reflections, the documentary honors ancestral knowledge not as something distant, but as a living force that continues to guide resilience, renewal, and collective possibility.
Una serie producida en el norte de California, City of Gods and Goddesses / Ciudad de Dioses y Diosas entreteje las voces de mayores, sanadoras, líderes y guardianes de la cultura, cuyas tradiciones de sanación nos ofrecen maneras profundas de habitar el presente e imaginar el porvenir. A través de entrevistas íntimas y momentos de reflexión, el documental honra el saber ancestral no como memoria distante, sino como una fuerza viva que sigue guiando la resiliencia, la renovación y la posibilidad colectiva.
Join Our Cinema Movement
Shape the Future of Storytelling in film!
Xochiquetzal Media is more than a film production company—we are a visionary force at the intersection of film, and emerging media. Through our work in film, media and educational programming, we bridge the past, present, and future to amplify voices that have too often been silenced.
Meet The Founder Of XQL MEDIA
Xochiquetzal Media is the first Chicana-owned film production company in Sonoma County founded in 2015.
Hello, my name is Malinalli López Arreguín and I launched Xochiquetzal Media to honor the Mexica Goddess of the arts and to bring healing to communities across the globe that have a need to inspire the future and to create a cultural archive of where we have been. " We produce films that celebrate the beauty of justice, resilience & healing”
My work bridges film production, research, and teaching through an interdisciplinary practice grounded in visual history, decolonial memory, and culturally rooted storytelling. As the founder of XQL Media, I produce and direct documentary and narrative films, publish scholarly work, and create educational programming that preserve the past, bear witness to the present, and imagine more just futures.
Our award-winning media company XQL Media, is the premiere filmmaking company in the San Francisco Bay Area dedicated to empowering filmmakers to own every step of the film production process from pre-production to distribution.