Director’s Statement
Personal documentary filmmaking is a site of redress. I seek to subvert the mainstream depiction of immigrant women as victims, heroes, and threats, and instead focus on the agency and resilience of everyday migrant workers.
Art has always been my refuge. Filming and painting my story has helped me to make sense of my journey and heal the bonds with my family and the broken parts inside me. Artistically unifying the film over the course of the story, the artwork becomes a vehicle for empowerment. Vibrant and intimate in execution, it provides the viewer with a sense of the courage that immigrants carry despite the social forces that pull them apart.
My journey might be unique in its particulars, but its essence is shared by millions of Latina and other immigrant women who have been separated from their families in their struggle to seek out a better life, pursue a life of meaning and purpose, or simply to support their own families.
By exploring these issues through an intimate yet transnational lens, Prodigal Daughter will offer a space for reflection, dialogue, and community healing, building bridges of understanding among immigrant women, families, advocates, educators, and policymakers.
