the long road home
30 minutes, video format, completed 1993,
updated 2002.
A 35 page study guide accompanies this documentary
Synopsis:
The filmmaker follows a 19-year old Mayan refugee from his home
in Chicago to a Guatemalan refugee camp in Mexico. The viewer
learns why Ricardo Hernandez and his family had to leave Guatemala,
what life is like in exile and the cooperative efforts being taken
by the refugees to return home. Intercutting this teenagers personal
odyssey with a more general history of his homeland gives the
statistics a human face. The video uses children's illustrations,
archival footage, interviews and captures the music, dance and
spirit of everyday life.
This documentary is an excellent historical
record of the struggle the Mayans have had to endure in the last
decades of the 20th century. Furthermore, it provides context
and background for the immigration issues we now face in the United
States and is an excellent springboard for discussion.
Awards / Screenings:
National Educational Film & Video Festival: BRONZE APPLE
Smokey Mountain Media Festival
Earth Peace International Film Festival: CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
Chicago Latino Cinema Film Festival
Festival Cine Latino, San Francisco, California
Columbus International Film & Video Festival: HONORABLE MENTION
Big Muddy Film Festival
The Long Road Home Links:
The Long Road Home at New Day Films
The Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies
Unedited footage and transcripts from the refugee camp in Chiapas is being housed in the Boeckmann collection, located in the Doheny Memorial Library building in the center of the campus. Doheny Library is the main library and part of the University of Southern California Libraries.
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