Some Films on the Immigrant Experience
To understand Latin American emigration, it helps to view it from THEIR perspectives
As noted in my post about the things I learned on a trip to El Salvador, here are a few films you might find useful in understanding what motivates (in this case Latin American) emigration and what those emigrants experience both on their journeys when (and if) they make it to America (some not currently streaming - check your library collections or sellers of DVDs:)
(Amazon Prime ,Apple TV). Shot entirely in Spanish, “Sin Nombre” (translation: “Nameless”) tracks two young characters as they journey north with other immigrants through Central America on top of freight trains bound for the U.S. While the train carries its own dangers — bad weather and the constant possibility of death or injury, signified by the barely marked graves they see along the way — the story also offers a window into the world of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a notorious gang in Central America with outposts in major cities across the U.S. Filmmaker Cary Fukunaga immersed himself in both worlds — riding the trains with immigrants, gaining access to MS-13 members in and out of prison — and his film bears the weight of both realities.
(Hulu, Amazon Prime, AppleTV) Rosario, a single mother, illegally crossed the US-Mexico border to Los Angeles, leaving behind her young son, Carlitos, in his Mexican hometown with his ailing grandmother. As a part of their weekly calls, Rosario describes the area around the payphone to Carlitos in detail. On his ninth birthday, after his grandmother unexpectedly dies in her sleep, Carlitos learns that his aunt and uncle are trying to take custody of him for his mother’s remittances.
Determined to reunite with his mother, Carlitos sets out on a perilous journey north.
(Available for purchase but not presently available for streaming. NOTE: Not to be confused with an Apple TV documentary with this name about Afghanistan.)
Maya, a recently arrived illegal immigrant in Los Angeles, is eager to build a new life away from her old one, where she briefly worked in a bar. She desires to work in a high-rise building as a janitor alongside her sister Rosa. Once employed, Maya discovers the stark disparity in wages and working conditions that the janitors, many of them immigrants, face daily.
Soon after starting her job, Maya encounters Sam, a union organizer. Sam's mission is to sign up workers in the building for the union, hoping to address their grievances. Maya is receptive to Sam's cause, seeing an opportunity for better wages and conditions. However, her sister Rosa is skeptical, fearful of losing their jobs amidst the push for unionization. They stage a protest at a house-warming party for a prominent Hollywood agency located in the same building they clean. The janitors' plight becomes a point of contention within the building and draws attention to the exploitation many of them face.
(Not currently available for streaming)
A Day Without a Mexican is a 2004 fantasy film directed by Sergio Arau in his directorial debut. The plot offers a satirical look at the consequences of all the Mexicans in the state of California suddenly disappearing (with a mysterious "pink fog" surrounding the state preventing any communication or movement with the outside world). Decidedly less grim than the other films I have listed here, and at times a bit over the top, this is nevertheless a good way to see how blind most Americans are to the reality of the immigrant experience.
I happened to see this when living in the Bay Area of San Francisco….a community with a very sizable population of both legal and undocumented immigrants. One of my favorite lines from the movie was as follows:
An immigrant laborer is asked by his employer, “Where are you from?”
“Honduras,” he replies.
“Oh,” responds the employer…”What part of Mexico is that?” The whole theater erupted in laughter.