As part of the Spanish Film Series entitled (Re)presenting (Im)migration, organized by the Department of Modern Languages, the documentary "Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary" was presented at the CAC building this past Monday.
The film is incredibly moving, showing some of the conditions of extreme poverty that force people from Central American countries to attempt to migrate towards the United States, facing all kinds of dangers , ranging from exhaustion to attacks by gangs, risking everything to pursue a better life for their families. It really shows a mostly unknown fact: illegal immigrants do not wish to leave their homes and come to the USA; they do so because it is the only way they can find to try to help their families survive. Another interesting feature of this film is the interviews with the "vigilantes" at the border, who spend their days watching the border in search of illegal immigrants, acting out on their extremely negative prejudice against illegal immigrants, as well as on their belief that they are protecting their country. By giving voice to the people involved in this social phenomenon, this documentary has the power to elicit empathy and perspective-taking processes in the public.
The film series will continue throughout the Spring semester, showing other films on the topic of migration, every Monday evening at the CAC building.
A review of the film can be found here:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117929035.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
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