Saturday’s third day of CineFestival began with a showcase of local student films from Say Sí, Film School of San Antonio, Edgewood Fine Arts Academy, Mustang Cinema Club, and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Juntos en Arte Stop-Motion Animation 101 class. The Premio Mesquite Award for Emerging Artist went to Emileigh Potter, a student at Say Sí, for her documentary short. “We March” chronicles the César Chávez March, which Potter has participated in since she was a small child. The most remarkable element of this documentary is the collection of archival photos and never before seen footage of Chavez at rallies and his funeral, material provided by Jaime Martinez, founder of the César Chávez Education and Legacy Foundation.The Premio Mesquite Award Winner for Best Documentary followed—Esaú Meléndez’s “Immigrant Nation!: the Battle for the Dream.” In the style of advocacy or guerilla filmmaking, “Immigrant Nation!” represents the immigrant rights movement through its portrayal Elvira Arellano, an undocumented mother of a young boy, a U.S. citizen. Based in Chicago, Arellano fought against her deportation though 2006 and 2007 but lost; she and her son now live in Mexico. The documentary is chock-full of footage from marches and demonstrations throughout Illinois as it illustrates how organizations, activists, community leaders, and individuals rallied against anti-immigration forces.
In my opinion, “Immigrant Nation” was awarded for its treatment of an urgent issue for an under-represented and often misunderstood community. However, the best social issue documentaries apply cinematic art and a poignant, well-crafted story to an urgent issue within a national or international dialogue. I found “Immigrant Nation” to be flat in its form and craft and its Manichean representation of characters. It missed a number of opportunities to dig into the critical grays of the immigration debate, and it failed to transcend its preaching to the choir. Pablo Veliz’s “Cartoneo y Nopalitos,” although not a documentary, presents a more nuanced and affecting testament to the struggles of undocumented immigrants.
Photo: Emileigh Potter, winner of the Premio Mesquite Award for Emerging Artist, and her teacher, Guillermina Zabala, Media Arts Director at Say Sí.
1 comment:
While "Immigrant Nation" deals with important issues, it's a shame that Ray Telles' phenomenal and hugely relevant two-hour documentary about the Mexican Revolution, "The Storm that Swept Mexico," was not only snubbed for Best Documentary but was scheduled for Friday at 2pm when it was guaranteed the smallest audience possible.
Who is programming this thing? View the trailer for "Storm That Swept Mexico" and judge for yourself.
http://stormthatsweptmexico.com/trailer
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