2nd Annual Film Symposium
2:00 pm Screening Building the American Dream
3:30 pm Screening Campesinos: America’s Unsung Heroes
4:00 pm Panel Discussion & Q&A to immediately follow with Chealse Hernandez, Alex Ontiveros & shiloh burton
NHCC | Bank of America Theatre
Free community event
Across Texas, an unstoppable construction boom drives urban sprawl and luxury high-rises. Its dirty secret: abuse of immigrant labor. BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM captures a turning point as a movement forms to fight widespread construction industry injustices. Grieving their son, a Mexican family campaigns for a life-and-death safety ordinance. A Salvadorian electrician couple owed thousands in back pay fights for their children’s future. A bereaved son battles to protect others from his family’s preventable tragedy. A story of courage, resilience, and community, the film reveals shocking truths about the hardworking immigrants who build the American Dream, of which they are excluded.
Run Time: 73 mins
The documentary, Campesinos: America’s Unsung Heroes is a moving and vivid first-hand look at the struggles farm workers face on both a local and national level. It was filmed at several farms near Silicon Valley and shows how the gritty reality of farm workers is similar everywhere. No stone is left unturned as it makes sure to give insight into the life of farm workers, who are often forgotten by the American Mainstream. Director Joe Poni and Producer Alex Ontiveros (Silicon Valley Latino), and Salvador Chavez are delighted with the enthusiastic reception that the documentary has received in film festivals and from audiences that have viewed it in private screenings. It has won 7 awards- including a Telly Award. Time and time again, this documentary has proven to be eye-opening and a heartfelt tribute to the lives of agricultural workers everywhere.
The life of a farmworker is a rough life. Many risk it all to arrive in this nation. They have little contact with their families back in their country of origin. They work using only the bare minimum to support their families. The work they do doesn’t provide them with welfare or pandemic pay, yet it serves as their only source of income. If a farm worker doesn’t work, they don’t eat. Campesinos makes it clear that farm workers deal with many issues while living under the American Shadow. To make matters worse, there is a stigma that farm workers are seen as criminals and as other negative caricatures that aren’t true to the reality of farm workers. Farm workers in California produce two-thirds of the nation’s fruits and nuts and over 90% of national production, a point further elaborated on within the documentary. Agricultural workers aren’t recognized or respected for their back-breaking labor. Some are even disrespected and even seen as less of what they are.
Run Time: 33 mins