Migrant Voices Film Challenge - 2019 San Diego Latino Film Festival

The San Diego Union-Tribune and Media Arts Center San Diego’s 2019 San Diego Latino Film Festival invited international media artists and journalists to participate in a unique and timely cross-border project: The “Migrant Voices Today” Film Challenge (Voces de los Migrantes).

With the current humanitarian crisis unfolding along the San Diego-Baja California border, we received 293 entries from around the world. From these entries, the jury selected 15 honest, thought-provoking works that give voice to the migrants who have arrived at the border; the realities of their everyday lives; and the struggle of being caught in the crosshairs of a binational debate.

The outstanding collection of 15 finalists will be screened Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at AMC Fashion Valley at 7:00pm. At this screening, the two winners will be announced. The best “Emerging Artist” to receive a cash prize of $1,000; and the best “Professional Media Maker” to receive a cash prize of $5,000!

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The 15 finalists to be screened include:

Tomorrow, We Carry On/Mañana, Seguímos (Dir. Marlene Morris)
For Dulce Garcia, The Dreamer, and the San Diego Border Dreamers organization she leads, the stakes are higher than the fate of 800,000 DACA recipients. Dulce risks the life she leads in the United States to sue the president for rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Voices of the caravan (Dir. Hector Guerrero)
The nearly 9,000 Central American migrants who comprise the caravan from Honduras to the United States, talk about the reasons why they migrate during the march through Mexico.

Dariella, one over thousands (Dir. Francesca Tosarelli)
Dariella and her son Kevin, together with Fabiola, Xinia, Mirna and their children arrived in Tijuana, Mexico after a march of thousands of kilometers that began in Honduras. Escaping organized crime that controls the country and directly affected them through extortion and murder of relatives, they’re now exasperated and exhausted, waiting to legally apply for asylum to enter the United States. Dariella and her friends then decide to illegally cross the border wall.

And Here They Are (Dir. Vivian Gomez & Simon Christopher)
A slice of a much bigger story that these filmmakers hope to be able to tell. They invite you (the audience) to participate in this conversation. Their goal is to allow the audience to respond to the questions they hear and or ask questions of their own. They will then show the response to that specific person in the hopes for both sides to get some type of answer or learn something new.

About a Wall (Dir. Hermes Mangialardo)
Two children want to play together, but a wall has built up creating an obstacle and a frontier…

Platicas (Dir Kayla Mulholland)
Three boys discuss their migration journey, and speculate about what will happen next for them and their families. This conversation gets at the heart of the migration crisis, the root causes, and the uncertainty these families now face.

Running away from transphobia (Dir. Paula Daibert & Andalusia Knoll / AJ+ Español)
“15 days after they killed my partner, they forced me to leave the country”: Loly, Lady and Alexia are seeking asylum in the U.S. They are fleeing violence and poverty in El Salvador and Honduras, and another kind of threat to their lives: transphobia.

The Border Wall Doesn’t Stop The American Dream (Dir. Julie Holtzhuizer)
A video-documentary about the impact on families who have been separated by the wall.

Music Without Borders (Dir. Varda Bar-Kar)
After reading in the New York Times about a Mexican folk music festival called “Fandango Fronterizo” on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, Arturo O’Farrill, founder and conductor of New York City’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, travels with his 40-piece orchestra to Tijuana to groove with the Son Jarocho musicians of Veracruz; transforming a symbol of division into a unifying space of peace and harmony.

Go and Back (Dir. Yolanda Morales & Jorge Nieto)
Two events are recorded as the Migrant Caravan is underway. First, the atmosphere and feelings of the Caravan members living in Tijuana and desiring to reach the United States; and next, the suspense in which the returnees have returned.

Borders (Dir zoé liénard)
From airlines, borders have the sharpness of geographical maps. At the edge of boats, they are stretched and filled with a thickness, in which to could get lost.

La Trifulca Ii. 5 Billion Dollar (Dir. Arturo Pulido Garcia)
The citizens of Tijuana show their dissatisfaction for what they call an invasion of Honduran migrants, who have escaped violence and poverty in their own country; and are now stuck waiting for attempts to enter into the United States.

Música Migratoria como aves con su canto / Migrant Music like birds and their songs (Dir. Reynaldo Escoto González)
Mira Yolanda Contreras made the 4,419 km journey carrying her speaker and microphone from Ocotepeque, Honduras to Tijuana, Mexico. Every time the caravan was cold, hungry, sad, or desperate, she put on music and singing; because music is as important as water, shelter and food in the migration process.

A Beautiful Tragedy (Dir. Moises Lopez)
A tragedy has been normalized in the community: A mother’s love is irreplaceable.

My Migration (Dir. Aileen Candelario)
Based on a father’s true story. This stop-motion animated short film acts as a visual metaphor for human migration, and attempts to explore the reasons behind this natural, universal movement; and the many struggles encountered throughout such transitions.

Migrant Voices Film Competition Jury Members:

Laura Castañeda (San Diego State University), Luis Cruz (Los Angeles Times), Adriana Trujillo (Cine Tonolá Tijuana/Filmmaker), Cuauhtemoc Ruelas (Film Critic), and Norma Iglesias Prieto (San Diego University).