synopsis

Lalo and Beby Sánchez achieved the American Dream. With only a grade-school and middle-school education between them, they rose out of poverty, became naturalized citizens, bought two homes, and sent all three of their sons to elite colleges with little to no debt. But while they worked to overcome the border that separated them from their own families, a quieter border formed between them and their children. Despite Lalo and Beby’s pride in their language, culture, and rural Mexican values, their children gravitated toward the American mainstream they encountered at school and on television.

Their sons abandoned Catholicism, their fluency in Spanish faded, and their life experiences became increasingly unfamiliar to the people who raised them. In response to that distance, their eldest son set out to better understand their story and reclaim a heritage he had once failed to appreciate. Drawing from original interviews and the VHS home videos his parents sent over the border between 1993 and 2005 as a means of “visiting” the families they couldn’t physically be with, MEXICANAMERICAN is an expressionistic collage through time, exploring the emotional and cultural cost of migration.

Crew

director / writer / producer / editor

Eddie Sánchez is a New York City-based writer, director, producer, editor, and actor. He is the founder of the independent production label, Evelia Filmworks; a contributor for the LA-based magazine, CUSPER; and an administrator for the Theatre Development Fund. His work includes the web series SCREWED (Director, Editor, Producer) music videos for up-and-coming recording artists, and the narrative feature IVY (Writer, Director, Producer) (currently in development). He also served as 1st AD on STITCHED, a short starring and written by Emmy-nominee and Peabody-Award-winner, Pratima Mani. As an actor, Eddie starred in the films WHEN ICARUS FELL (South Texas International Film Festival), PRINCESS CYD (Vanity Fair’s “10 Best Movies of the 2010s”), the web series INSIGNIFICANT OTHER (HollyWeb Festival award nominee) and Local Theater Company’s PAPER CUT (Henry Award winner; Production of A Play of the Decade, Denver region, BroadwayWorld).

producer

Michael Rogerson is a Brooklyn based producer and director of film and theatre, and the artistic director of Silencio Projects. With Silencio, he produced the US premiere of Simon Longman’s GUNDOG (co-produced by CultureLab LIC), the Midwest premiere of Christopher Chen’s HOME INVASION, and Midwest premiere of Marius von Mayenburg’s THE DOG, THE NIGHT, AND THE KNIFE (in partnership with Fulton Street Collective), and a basement-rock-show version of Enda Walsh’s DISCO PIGS, which played multiple sold out runs in real DIY venues in Logan Square. His short film ALL THE WAY DOWN THIS TIME played at Queens International Film Festival and won best short at Queer Fear Film Festival. He graduated from Northwestern University, and trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company.

co-director / co-producer

Eben Sánchez is a filmmaker from Portland, Oregon currently completing his senior year as a Media Studies major and Religious Studies minor at Pomona College. Eben most recently premiered his debut short as a writer-director, DULCE COMPAÑÍA, centered around a young poet who overcomes self-hatred and shame about his sexuality by confronting his family’s intergenerational trauma.

sound editor / mixer

Justin Enoch is a Romanian-born, LA-based sound designer, composer, and interdisciplinary artist. Their work has screened at Sundance, TIFF, and the Student Academy Awards. Their most recent credits include TAHARA (sound design, foley), AGAINST REALITY (sound design, mix), FLAIL (sound design, composer), and INSIDE THE RED SEA MISSION (composer).

colorist

Ryan Alva is a cinematographer and colorist from Lafayette, CA, currently based in Los Angeles. His cinematography credits range from feature films to shorts to fashion films to music videos, collaborating with publications including Tings Magazine and contentMode, and actors such as Alison Brie, Michelle Monaghan, Stephan James, and Angela Sarafyan. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, having acquired his BA in Radio/Television/Film and will receive his MFA from the American Film Institute later this year.