Image of a child from the film Sansón and Me (2022)

Monday, October 23, 2023, 7:30 PM, UCSC Communications 150 (Theater C)
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
USA / 2022 / 83 minutes

During his day job as a Spanish criminal interpreter in a small town in California, filmmaker Rodrigo
Reyes met a young man named Sansón, an undocumented Mexican immigrant sentenced
to life in prison without parole. Sansón and Reyes worked together for over a decade, using hundreds of
letters as inspiration for recreations of Sansón’s childhood—featuring members of Sansón’s own family.
The result is a vibrant portrait of a friendship navigating immigration and the depths of the criminal
justice system, pushing the boundaries of cinematic imagination to rescue a young migrant’s story
from oblivion.

Rodrigo Reyes will be present for a Q&A following the screening.

event co-sponsored by Porter College

 


THE ART OF NONFICTION: CAPTURING ESSENTIAL REALITIES (A WORKSHOP WITH RODRIGO REYES)
Tuesday, October 24, 9:50-12:50 PM / Communications 130 (Theater C)

Please join us for a workshop with filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes. Director Rodrigo Reyes will discuss his process around hybrid filmmaking, working with actors, recreations, and real people to tell urgent documentary stories. RSVP for this event by emailing Professor Irene Lusztig at ilusztig@ucsc.edu.


A picture of Rodrigo Reyes

RODRIGO REYES

Mexican director Rodrigo Reyes (Mexico City, 1983), makes films
deeply grounded in his identity as an immigrant artist, crafting a
poetic gaze from the margins, using striking imagery to portray the
contradictory nature of our shared world, while revealing the
potential for transformative change. He has received the support
of The Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE), Sundance and Tribeca
Institutes, while his films have screened on PBS and Netflix. His film
“499,” won Best Cinematography at Tribeca and the Special Jury
Award at Hot Docs. Rodrigo is a recipient of the prestigious
Guggenheim and Creative Capital Awards, as well as the Rainin
Fellowship, the SF Indie Vanguard Award and the Eureka Fellowship.
His latest film, “Sansón and Me,” won the Best Film Award at Sheffield DocFest, and is the opening film for the 2023 season premiere for the celebrated documentary series Independent Lens, on PBS.