Finding Latinos in Film

In his epic “El Norte,” award-winning filmmaker Gregory Nava charted the tragic journey of siblings Enrique and Rosa from Guatemala to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American dream. The 1983 film was inducted into the Library’s National Film Registry in 1995 and still resonate in this Hispanic Heritage Month, two decades into a new century. It’s one of the highlights of the Library’s work in preserving Latino films.

Source: Library of Congress
October 3, 2024
Posted by: Maria Peña

In his epic “El Norte,” award-winning filmmaker Gregory Nava charted the tragic journey of siblings Enrique and Rosa from Guatemala to Los Angeles in pursuit of the American dream. The film’s themes still resonate in this Hispanic Heritage Month four decades later.

“El Norte,” released in 1983, was inducted into the Library’s National Film Registry in 1995. It offers a heart-wrenching portrayal of the immigrant experience; today, it is considered an important landmark in Latino cinema and American independent film.

Born in San Diego, Nava has intimate knowledge of the border and its people — growing up, he had family on both sides. As a filmmaker, he wants to ensure that Latinos are seen, beyond stereotypes, for their vast cultural complexity.

Latinos make up about 20% of the U.S. population but only 2% of actors in movies. But, Nava says, advancing true Latino inclusion in film is not just a math challenge.

Numbers are important, he said in an interview, but it’s more important that Latinos are creating Latino stories and acting in lead roles: “We’re writing our stories, directing our stories, telling who we are for this country and for our industry.”

Nava’s work is included in a Library research guide prepared last year by junior fellows Mateo Arango, Karla Camacho and Madeline Griffin and project mentor María Daniela Thurber of the Latin American, Caribbean and European Division in collaboration with experts from the Library’s Moving Image Research Center and its National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.

The guide features thematic and chronological filmographies from 1893 through 2023, documentaries, books, posters and external websites curated to increase understanding of Latino film. It also features interviews with filmmakers like Alexis C. Garcia, Aitch Alberto, Alejandra Vasquez, Patricia Cardoso and Alex Rivera.

In addition to “El Norte,” Nava’s “Selena” and Luis Valdez’s “Zoot Suit,” also featured in the guide, have been inducted into the Film Registry, which includes 22 films with significant Latino representation on and off camera.

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Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.