GOOD TALK WITH RODRIGO REYES
Rodrigo Reyes is a 2017 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow and award-winning filmmaker. His presentations for college students focus on the immigrant experience and challenge preconceived notions of the US-Mexico border. He is the grandson of migrant farmworkers from Michoacán, and was raised between Mexico and the United States. His visceral and beautiful films explore the fractures separating these two worlds. His GOOD TALK includes screening one or both of his award-winning documentaries. PURGATORIO is a compelling journey into the heart of the US-Mexico border. A work that challenges audiences to re-evaluate their notions of this conflicted space, the film has toured more than 40 international festivals, winning Jury Awards at the New Orleans Film Festival and San Diego Latino Film Festival, as well as the Michael Moore Award for Best Documentary. His latest work, LUPE UNDER THE SUN, is a neorealist film following an aging migrant worker living in California, who longs to return to Mexico before it is too late. Featuring a cast of nonprofessional actors, real farmworkers and authentic locations, LUPE UNDER THE SUN tackles issues of depression, homesickness and the immigrant myth of the American Dream. Rodrigo was awarded a 2017 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and has received the support of the Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Institute, Film Independent, both IFP Filmmaker Narrative and Documentary Labs, California Council for the Humanities, Spotlight on Storytellers Grant, and more. He is a MacDowell Colony Fellow and in 2013 was named one of the ‘25 New Faces of Independent Film’ by Filmmaker Magazine. He has spoken at campuses including University of San Diego, Princeton, California State San Marcos, California State Monterey Bay and Oakland University.