SCREENING

The San Diego Union Tribune presents the 5th annual Migrant Voices Today Film Challenge! This annual competition celebrates journalists and filmmakers creating short form films about the migrant and refugee experience! Three winners will be announced after the screening:

First place $3,000 • Second place $2,000 • Third place $1,000

March 14, 2023, 7:00 PM

AMC Mission Valley 20

Total running time • 40 minutes • Award ceremony to follow

Hosted by Paola Hernandez-Jiao & Laura Castañeda

Australian Mongrel

Dir. Rocco Fazzari

(Australia, 2 min., 2023, English, Documentary)

Passengers on the Sydney Rail Network are asked "How did you get here?"

Bald And Beautiful

Dir. Kayla Mulholland

(USA, 5 min., 2022, English, Documentary)

As an American-born daughter from a traditional African family, shaving your head bald is an act of rebellion. Nyakoach attempts to break down her culture's traditionally patriarchal values, while still maintaining respect and love for her roots.

Encuentros

Dir. Dario Guerrero

(Honduras, 5 min., 2023, Spanish w/ English subtitles, English, Documentary)

A Central American migrant is kidnapped in Mexico City after advising his fellow travelers that San Ysidro will be the safest US port to receive them. The caravan sets off and struggles intensely to reach the relative safety of detention within the United States. A visceral journey documented by the migrants and activists who walked together during the November 2019 caravan.

Hello Mexico

Dir. Richard E. Haywood

(USA, 3 min., 2019, English, Narrative)

Two young lovers must say goodbye as one is getting deported.

I Am Aliya

Dir. Matic Carl

(Slovenia, 3 min., 2016, English, Short)

Short story about a refugee who never gives up.

Love Has No Borders

Dir. Pamela Oliver Muñoz (USA, 4 min., 2021, English, Spanish, Animation)

Gang violence forces a loving family to leave Central America in hopes of finding a better life only to find more trouble in the U.S.

Loyalty

Dirs. Ana Stella Cunha, Milena Avelar (Brazil, 5 min., 2019, Portuguese w/ English subtitles, Documentary)

In the Quilombo de Damásio - as in practically the whole state of Maranhão - the joke of the "Portuguese dance" is part of the extensive June celebrations. A family of dancers recalls stories, inviting us to reflect on relationships of power and oppression, fear and pride.

So Adora

Dir. Jr Rodriguez (USA, 5 min., 2022, Spanish, English, Documentary)

As an immigrant, Vanessa Chavarriaga, is used to existing between two worlds: that of where she was born, in Colombia, and where she lives now in the United States.This is her story of being split between two cultures while learning to thrive with her own unique identity, told through running, skiing and poetry.

The Border

Dir. Ray Arzate (USA, 5 min., English, Documentary)

"The Border" is a powerful film that introduces the viewer to Haitian migrants struggling to make it out of poverty and corruption. The film paints a vivid and heartbreaking portrait of their journey and the discrimination they face. It's a story of hope and courage in the face of hardship; one that will stay with viewers long after the credits roll.

The Life Letter

Dir. Matas Kaikaris (Lithuania, 4 min., 2022, No Dialogue, Animation)

A piece of mail’s trip from battlefield to town, with a purpose of expressing one soldier's feelings.

Sans N Y Yo

¡DOCUMANIA! SHOWCASE

Non-fiction films that explore themes like forensic anthropology, femicide, immigration, and the criminal justice system, while using storytelling techniques that push the documentary form in exciting new directions.

Ajenos A La Paz

Dir. Laura Ángel, Noah DeBonis

(Colombia, 88 min., 2022, Spanish w/ English subtitles, Reintegration)

3/16 • 4:00 • S2

3/17 • 9:45 • S11

Three former child soldiers face retribution, anxiety, and danger as they attempt to rebuild their lives after leaving the FARC guerrilla army and the bloody Colombian conflict. ¡Docu-mania! Showcase.

Barajas

Dir. Javier Izquierdo

(Ecuador, 62 min., 2021, Spanish w/ English subtitles, Politics / Literature)

3/16 • 4:30 • S11

3/18 • 1:30 • S10

Barajas explores the deaths of four Latin American writers during a plane crash near a Madrid airport in 1983. Through archival footage dir. Javier Izquierdo evokes the continent’s visual memory during an era full of struggles, dictatorships, and exiles that influenced a whole generation. ¡Docu-mania! Showcase.

El Equipo

Dir. Bernardo Ruiz

(Argentina / USA / Mexico, 80 min., 2022, Spanish w/ English subtitles, English, History / Forensic Anthropology)

3/14 • 5:00 • S11

3/17 • 7:40 • DGC

In 1984, an unlikely meeting between Dr. Clyde Snow, a legendary American forensic scientist, and a group of Argentine students, changes the course of forensic science and human rights forever. ¡Docu-mania! Showcase.

Me Mataron 3 Veces

Dir. Rodrigo Occelli

(Mexico, 99 min., 2023, Spanish w/ English subtitles, Femicide / Women’s Rights)

3/11 • 2:10 • S10

3/13 • 9:30 • S10

After their mother’s femicide, three siblings were separated from each other and forced to live in different places. Many years later they reunite to share their story. ¡Docu-mania! Showcase.

My Daca Life

Dir. Fanny Grande

(USA, 70 min., 2022, Spanish w/ English subtitles; English, Immigration)

3/16 • 6:10 • S2

3/19 • 1:10 • S2

Maribel, a DACA recipient, receives Advance Parole and is able to travel to Mexico for the first time in 25 years. This documentary follows her on this emotional journey, and brings insight into the plight of so many undocumented individuals. ¡Docu-mania! Showcase.

Sans N Y Yo

Dir. Rodrigo Reyes

(Mexico / United States, 85 min., 2022, Spanish w/ English subtitles, Immigration / Criminal Justice)

3/9 • 7:20 • DGC

3/12 • 7:30 • S11

During his day job as a Spanish criminal interpreter in a small town in California, filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes (499) met a young man named Sansón, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was sentenced to life in prison without parole. With no permission to interview him, Sansón and Reyes worked together over a decade, using hundreds of letters as inspiration for recreations of Sansón’s childhood—featuring members of Sansón’s own family. The result is a vibrant portrait of a friendship navigating immigration and the depths of the criminal justice system and pushing the boundaries of cinematic imagination to rescue a young migrant’s story from oblivion. ¡Docu-mania! Showcase.

The Wind Blows The Border

Dirs. Laura Faerman, Marina Weis (Brazil, 77 min., 2022, Portuguese, Guarani w/ English subtitles, Land Activism)

3/10 • 4:30 • S2

3/13 • 7:30 • DGC

Along the Brazilian-Paraguayan border (the heart of Brazilian agribusiness), an indigenous teacher fighting for land rights stands in direct opposition to a lawyer with strong relations to the Bolsonarist federal power. ¡Docu-mania! Showcase; Historias Originarias Showcase.

Documania Shorts

3/15 • 4:45 • S2

OUTLIER: TRUST • Dir. Faith E. Briggs, Dani Reyes-Acosta, USA

KEMONITO: LA ÚLTIMA CAÍDA • Dir. Teresa de Miguel, México

SOCORRO • Dir. Susanna Lira, Brazil

TIERRA FÉRTIL • Dir. Eugenia Renteria, México

NANIA 1988 • Dir. Diana Orduna, Ecuador

LA VISTA DESDE ARRIBA • Dir. Rafael Martínez Sánchez, México

WANDERING • Dir. Karla Meza, Canada