2nd Annual Film Symposium

12:30 pm: Doors open
1:00pm: Screening- Lupe Under the Sun
2:30 pm: Screening- Team Meryland
3:15 pm: Panel Discussion and Q&A to immediately follow with Gabriel Gaurano and Rodrigo Reyes moderated by Deborah Blanche as Emma Tenayuca

Free Community Event.

Lupe Under the Sun is a neorealist film following an aging migrant worker living in California, who longs to return to Mexico before it is too late. Featuring a cast of nonprofessional actors, real farmworkers and authentic locations, Lupe Under the Sun tackles issues of depression, homesickness and the immigrant myth of the American Dream.

Long estranged from his family in Michoacán, migrant laborer Lupe finds relief from the backbreaking work of harvesting peaches in California’s Central Valley through camaraderie and a quiet love affair with fellow immigrant Gloria. Soon the stability of his daily routine begins to crack under the weight of a life scarred with regret and missed opportunities. Filmed in a classic neorealist style, director Rodrigo Reyes’s deeply moving debut fiction feature, inspired by the life of his own grandfather, is at once an intimately drawn meditation on life’s missed chances and a tale of the universal struggles of immigrants. Winner of Film Independent’s Canon Filmmaker Award, Reyes’s unforgettable film heralds the arrival of an important new voice in American cinema.

Run Time: 78 mins

Team Meryland by Gabriel Gaurano In the projects of Watts, Meryland Gonzales, a twelve-year-old female boxer trains to be crowned the 2019 Junior Olympics champion. Meanwhile, her immigrant parents work tirelessly to give their child a shot at achieving her dream. Brought to you by PBS POV.

Run Time: 27 mins

Emma Tenayuca: La Pasionara De San Antonio Presented by Deborah Blanche

By the magic of imagination, the ultimate time machine, we will meet Miss Tenayuca today in 2024. In W1973 she was nominated to the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame but rejected as too radical. She will remember her days as a young activist and leader in the Workers’ Alliance, will take us back to 1934-1939 when she was organizing picket lines for the Mexican women who worked as pecan shellers, giving interviews to reporters, speaking from the steps of City Hall, and commenting on her so-called “commie” activities and subsequent arrests. Emma became the best-known labor organizer of San Antonio’s Spanish speaking community and was dubbed by newspapers “La pasionara” for her impassioned speaking style. Emma’s story resounds with topics of contemporary concern: Borderlands immigration; labor and economic justice; the right to dissent vs. mob and police violence; and biculturalism.