Abrazos

“My hope is that by showing this (Abrazos) we can have a more civil dialogue about immigration.” -Luis Argueta

As part of the countywide One Action 2016: Arts + Immigration Project, the Latino Task Force is hosting two screenings of the film ABRAZOS, followed by a talk back with director Luis Argueta.

Maeve Conran talks in studio with director Luis Argueta and producer Bea Jallardo about their trilogy of documentaries about immigration in the United States. Argueta discusses the way that immigration policies in the U.S. affect immigrants and how he hopes his films will give voice to the realities of these families in a more open discussion of these policies.

“These are children who live in fear, whose mental health is affected on a daily basis.”

Argueta draws parallels from his own experiences in Guatemala to the fears that immigrants have of being arrested and/or deported. Families can be broken up at any time, which forces them to live in fear every day.

ABRAZOS narrates the story of the transformational journey of a group of U.S. citizen children who travel 3,000 miles from Minnesota to Guatemala to visit their parents’ homeland and meet their grandparents for the first time. After being separated for nearly two decades, these families are able to share stories, strengthen traditions and begin to reconstruct their cultural identity.

On September 14th, the filmmakers screened the film at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder. After the film they discussed the film with the audience.

There will be another screening on Thursday, September 15th at the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center at 7:00pm. The Museum is located at 400 Quail Road, Longmont.