Orlando A. Jacome’figueroa

Contributing Writer

The 11th annual Latino Heritage Film Series was held on Saturday, Sept. 21. Hosted in Beers Lecture Hall, the series showcased two movies, with “Problemista” at 2 p.m. and “A Thousand Pines” at 4:30 p.m.

The film series was co-sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages, Philosophy and Religion; the Office of the Provost; the College of Arts & Sciences; the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice; the ESU Foundation and Kemp Library.

“It’s a national celebration of the Latin American diaspora and the communities of people who are of Latin American descent,” said Annie Mendoza, professor of modern languages, who hosted the event Saturday.

“Problemista” started the film series off. “Problemista” is the immigration story of an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador named Alejandro who goes to New York City on a work visa. The movie showcases the difficulties Alejandro faces after his sponsor company fires him, leaving him with a short amount of time to secure another sponsor before facing deportation.

When asked why “Problemista” was chosen, Professor Mendoza said, “I thought it was so much different. It shows so much of the current dialogue we’re having right now regarding immigration, identity politics and the hoops people have to jump through.”

After the film was finished, there was a short discussion about what the film meant to any student who wanted to share.

Janelly Martinez, a freshman Spanish major, had this to say, “I felt that this movie was a good representation of what so many people are going through to be able to stay in the US and make a better life for themselves. I know so many people who are in a situation like this and it hit close to home.”

The festival’s final screening, “A Thousand Pines,” was about a group of Oaxacan visa workers who came from Mexico on a work visa. They planted tree saplings across the United States for a reforestation company known as Superior Tree Service.

The director Noam Osbond gave us a glimpse of what it’s like to work as a visa worker traveling across America, while also managing a family long-distance and their own mental state.

At the end of the event there was a Q&A with Osbond. When asked how he hopes his film can bring awareness to the conditions and lifestyle these migrant workers live through, he had his reasons:

“I come from a background that is Jewish, where immigration is usually talked about in a positive light. In a period where the dialogue about immigration is so horrible. To be able to do anything to make people see people who don’t look like them as human, feels good and important. Most people really don’t know that the largest wood industry is in the United States and how it’s really powered by Latino guest workers in all facets.”

For information on where to watch “Problemista”, click this link. And for those who want to watch Osbond’s “A Thousand Pines,” it’s only available for streaming on the PBS Passport app.