ThoughtGallery.org > Rocío and La Boda: Movie Screening and Panel Discussion

Rocío and La Boda: Movie Screening and Panel Discussion

A joint screening of LA BODA and ROCÍO will be followed by a panel discussion with professors Philip Cartelli and Richard Peña.

On Monday February 24th, the Latin American Film Center (LAFC), a non-profit based in New York City, will be having its final screening in our five part film series “Screening América: The Series”. The joint screening will showcase LA BODA and ROCÍO, two films highlighting the migrant and immigrant experience on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Hannah Weyer’s LA BODA delves into the challenges faced by a community striving to maintain their roots in Mexico, while pursuing the “American Dream” across the border. Weyer’s camera follows Elizabeth Luis during the weeks before her mariage, interweaving the anticipation of the upcoming wedding with candid stories that explore the architecture of the Luis family. LA BODA tells the timeless story of a young woman’s coming of age while simultaneously confronting negative stereotypes of the migrant community through the real-life biography of a Mexican-American family.

Dario Guerrero’s ROCÍO also portrays the intimate lives of a Mexican-American family. When doting mother of three Rocío is suddenly diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer, her son Darío takes a leave of absence from Harvard University to come home and take care of her. Their battle against the disease leads them into the world of alternative medicine, where they find hope shimmering at a clinic across the border, but pursuing this last chance at survival might mean giving up everything they’ve ever worked for. Woven together with home-video footage spanning 25 years, ROCÍO is the story of a mother’s love and the American Dream.

The films will be followed by a video message from ROCÍO filmmaker Darío Guerrero and a panel discussion with professor and filmmaker Philip Cartelli and professor Richard Peña.

Darío Guerrero is an undocumented Harvard graduate whose story first received national attention in September 2014 when he published an essay in the Washington Post titled “I told Harvard I was an undocumented immigrant. After traveling to Mexico to care for his sick mother, which is depicted in ROCÍO, Darío was denied re-entry into the U.S. – his story once again making headlines. Prior to ROCÍO, Darío co-directed A DREAM DEFERRED, a documentary following several undocumented Harvard students as they apply for Deferred Action for Chilhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. Funded by the Harvard Law Documentary Studio, the film was a Regional Finalist in the Student Academy Awards.

Professor Cartelli is the current co-director of the Film and Media Studies program and chair of the Visual Arts department at Wagner College. His film and video works have been exhibited at a variety of festivals, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival and The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s non-fiction showcase Art of the Real, among others. Since 2013, he has worked as part of the duo Nusquam Productions, which was the featured artists at the Syros International Film Festival in 2017.

Richard Peña is a Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University, where he specializes in film theory and international cinema. From 1988 to 2012, he was the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Director of the New York Film Festival. At the Film Society, Richard Peña organized retrospectives of many film artists, as well as major film series devoted to African, Israeli, Cuban, Polish, Hungarian, Chinese, Arab, Korean, Swedish, Turkish, Taiwanese and Argentine cinema. Together with Unifrance, he created in 1995 “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema,” the leading American showcase for new French cinema, and he currently hosts WNET/Channel 13’s weekly Reel 13.

The goals of the LAFC are educational and cultural as well as artistic, through the establishment of a permanent home for the continued screening and research of films from Latin America and the Caribbean. The films included in this series have been selected for their artistic merit as well as their ability to help us better understand the issues and concerns being faced by the countries in the region.

Please visit our website at www.lafcnyc.org to learn more about LAFC’s projects and long-term goals and to find out more ways that you can become involved.

Cinépolis Chelsea
260 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011

Early-Bird General Admission $15











When: Mon., Feb. 24, 2020 at 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

A joint screening of LA BODA and ROCÍO will be followed by a panel discussion with professors Philip Cartelli and Richard Peña.

On Monday February 24th, the Latin American Film Center (LAFC), a non-profit based in New York City, will be having its final screening in our five part film series “Screening América: The Series”. The joint screening will showcase LA BODA and ROCÍO, two films highlighting the migrant and immigrant experience on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Hannah Weyer’s LA BODA delves into the challenges faced by a community striving to maintain their roots in Mexico, while pursuing the “American Dream” across the border. Weyer’s camera follows Elizabeth Luis during the weeks before her mariage, interweaving the anticipation of the upcoming wedding with candid stories that explore the architecture of the Luis family. LA BODA tells the timeless story of a young woman’s coming of age while simultaneously confronting negative stereotypes of the migrant community through the real-life biography of a Mexican-American family.

Dario Guerrero’s ROCÍO also portrays the intimate lives of a Mexican-American family. When doting mother of three Rocío is suddenly diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer, her son Darío takes a leave of absence from Harvard University to come home and take care of her. Their battle against the disease leads them into the world of alternative medicine, where they find hope shimmering at a clinic across the border, but pursuing this last chance at survival might mean giving up everything they’ve ever worked for. Woven together with home-video footage spanning 25 years, ROCÍO is the story of a mother’s love and the American Dream.

The films will be followed by a video message from ROCÍO filmmaker Darío Guerrero and a panel discussion with professor and filmmaker Philip Cartelli and professor Richard Peña.

Darío Guerrero is an undocumented Harvard graduate whose story first received national attention in September 2014 when he published an essay in the Washington Post titled “I told Harvard I was an undocumented immigrant. After traveling to Mexico to care for his sick mother, which is depicted in ROCÍO, Darío was denied re-entry into the U.S. – his story once again making headlines. Prior to ROCÍO, Darío co-directed A DREAM DEFERRED, a documentary following several undocumented Harvard students as they apply for Deferred Action for Chilhood Arrivals, also known as DACA. Funded by the Harvard Law Documentary Studio, the film was a Regional Finalist in the Student Academy Awards.

Professor Cartelli is the current co-director of the Film and Media Studies program and chair of the Visual Arts department at Wagner College. His film and video works have been exhibited at a variety of festivals, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival and The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s non-fiction showcase Art of the Real, among others. Since 2013, he has worked as part of the duo Nusquam Productions, which was the featured artists at the Syros International Film Festival in 2017.

Richard Peña is a Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University, where he specializes in film theory and international cinema. From 1988 to 2012, he was the Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Director of the New York Film Festival. At the Film Society, Richard Peña organized retrospectives of many film artists, as well as major film series devoted to African, Israeli, Cuban, Polish, Hungarian, Chinese, Arab, Korean, Swedish, Turkish, Taiwanese and Argentine cinema. Together with Unifrance, he created in 1995 “Rendez-Vous with French Cinema,” the leading American showcase for new French cinema, and he currently hosts WNET/Channel 13’s weekly Reel 13.

The goals of the LAFC are educational and cultural as well as artistic, through the establishment of a permanent home for the continued screening and research of films from Latin America and the Caribbean. The films included in this series have been selected for their artistic merit as well as their ability to help us better understand the issues and concerns being faced by the countries in the region.

Please visit our website at www.lafcnyc.org to learn more about LAFC’s projects and long-term goals and to find out more ways that you can become involved.

Cinépolis Chelsea
260 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011

Early-Bird General Admission $15

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