A while ago I had the great opportunity to make some portraits of Guatemalan filmmaker Luis Argueta. In case you don’t know who Luis Argueta is, here’s a brief bio taken directly from IMDb: “Luis Argueta is a director and producer, known for El silencio de Neto (1994), Collect Call (2002) and AbUSed: The Postville Raid (2010).”
The filmmaker Luis Argueta is now in Guatemala looking for sponsors to create the Spanish versions of ABRAZOS [both subtitled and dubbed] of his most recent documentary film. Below are Luis own words about the film ABRAZOS, embraces/hugs in English. Enjoy:
ABRAZOS tells the transformational journey about a group of children who travel from the U.S. to Guatemala to meet their grandparents for the first time. In the process of filming several of my most recent documentaries, I have witnessed the negative consequences of family separation which is caused by a broken immigration system. The ones most affected by the separation are the children. ABRAZOS documents a family-reunification project, spearheaded by the organization, Familia Juntas, to bring together the sons and daughters of Guatemalan immigrants in Worthington, Minnesota and their grandparents in San Marcos, Guatemala. Over the course of a little over a year, my crew and I were able to document this emotional pilgrimage and subsequent conversations. The families of the 14 U.S. citizen children who participated in this experiment granted us total access – before, during and after the trip – and we were able to capture the entire experience. The result is ABRAZOS, a film that reflects the hopes, dreams and fears, of these transnational-families who, after being separated for nearly two decades, are able to embrace each other, share stories, strengthen traditions and begin to reconstruct their cultural identity.
ABRAZOS is about changing the narrative surrounding the children of immigration. Given the current crisis of children refugees on the border and the extremely disappointing talk of fast tracking, there is no better time for this film to help us understand why, at a time when thousands of children are leaving to go to the “Norte,” a dozen kids are coming here to find their roots.
I am convinced that after watching ABRAZOS we will all find resonances with our own life and family history no matter where we come from.
Luis Argueta Director
Who wants to help Guatemalan filmmaker Luis Argueta A. make the Spanish versions of his most recent documentary film #ABRAZOS? I know I do, how about you?
You can watch the trailer and make a tax-deductible contribution by clicking on DONATE in the film’s web page: AbrazosTheFilm.com
