The Eleven Films About Refugees You Need To See
They're less depressing than the real thing.
El Norte (1983)
Gregory Nava helped kickstart the American indie film movement with this epic about two Guatemalan siblings, indigenous peasants from the country, who undertake the treacherous journey to “the North” (California) after their family are killed by the army. Once Enrique (David Villalpando) and Rosa (Zaide Silvia Guitérrez) arrive al norte – and trust me, watching how they get there is not for the faint of heart – the promised land turns out to be a land of cheap motels, backbreaking work in kitchens and sweatshops, and constant fear of being caught by la migra, the INS police.
Their suffering is buffered by great resilience and boundless hope – but look out, this one is a heartbreaker. Few other American films get inside the lives of immigrants so thoroughly; gringos are true outsiders here – strange, capricious creatures in the background who treat our heroes like children when they’re not ignoring them completely. El Norte is also one of a kind for the way it avoids the standard social realism; instead it’s filled with colour, humour, melodrama and magical realism.