April 2: Who is Dayani Cristal? Dir. Marc Silver. Mexico/USA, 2013. 82 min.
WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL? demonstrates how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration. This hybrid of documentary and participant observation follows the staff of the Pima County Morgue on a forensic investigation to uncover the identity of a migrant who died in the “corridor of death” along the Arizona-Mexico border. Then Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal joins a group of migrants to retrace the deceased man’s steps in Central America to experience first-hand the dangers and learn about the motivations, hopes and fears of the migrants who undertake, but do not always complete, this journey.
April 16: Romántico Dir, Mark Becker. USA/Mexico 2005. 84 min.
ROMÁNTICOfollows Carmelo from San Francisco's Mission District where he washes cars by day and plays norteña music in restaurants for tips by night to his home village of Salvatierra, Mexico where he returns upon his mother’s illness. Carmelo had been sending money to his family but now must resume the struggle to survive amidst the grinding poverty of his home region. The urgency and poignancy of this verité storytelling enlightens more than any statistic or headline about illegal immigration.
April 30: In The Pit (En El Hoyo) Dir. Juan Carlos Rulfo. Mexico, 2006. 84 min.
In The Pit demonstrates in starkly realistic detail why Mexicans have a proverb warning that the devil demands a soul for every bridge built. The ambitious project of constructing the massive elevated beltway around Mexico City, El Periférico, is a marvel of engineering but it comes with a high cost for the men who toil on its soaring towers and in its deep tunnels. The film manages surprising lyricism despite its gritty mise-en-scène, revealing the exploitive side of “progress.”
Español - Spanish Lower Division 
