Disney immigration documentary hitting the big screen in Tucson

Documentaries or films on the subject of immigration are many and of all genres. There are those that focus on the precise moment of migration and those that tell the experiences of people when they are already in their new country.

Good examples of this are the classic cult film “El Norte” (Gregory Nava, 1983); the recent Oscar winner, “Minari” (Lee Isaac Chung, 2020), the horror story “Nadie sale vivo de aquí” (Santiago Menghino, 2014), the surprising “Ya no estoy aquí” (Fernando Frías de la Parra, 2019), the raw and moving “Sin nombre” (Cary Fukunaga, 2019) where the fashionable Mexican Tenoch Huerta appears, among others that are as interesting as they are moving.

To this list is added “Mija” (Isabel Castro, 2022), the next film in the select programming of Cinema Tucsón, which every month brings contemporary Mexican cinema to the Fox Tucson Theatre. Cinema Tucson was created in 2021 by Cinema Tropical and the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona, in partnership with the Fox Theatre and the Mexican Consulate in Tucson.

“Mija” is a kind of modern fairy tale built through a documentary work that has the theme of migration as a magical and emotional background which is, in reality, the engine that moves the story and its characters.

With the seal of Disney under its arm, the documentary manages to enter the intimacy of a family of Hispanic immigrants to show their dynamics, their joys and their sorrows. The most valuable thing about “Mija” is perhaps that the viewer manages to find similarities between his or her personal story and the one he or she sees on the screen: painful farewells, happy reunions, absent sons or daughters, parents who miss each other and, in general, families who separate from each other or who leave their land.

The film is the debut film of filmmaker Isabel Castro and tells the story of an ambitious and dreamy girl named Doris Muñoz, who has a great dream: to manage musicians in the United States. She comes from a family of undocumented immigrants, who practically depend on her and her ability to launch pop music stars.

When Doris loses her most important client, everything seems to go into a tailspin; however, it is in that moment of uncertainty that she meets another talented girl named Jacks (also the daughter of immigrants). Jacks, on the other hand, not only longs to conquer her dream of being an artist, but it is at that moment a necessity for her.

Old family cassettes in VHS format, recordings of concerts with a cell phone and a visual record of Doris’ present (her day to day at work and family environment), are the elements that shape this entertaining and moving film that, without a doubt, will give unforgettable moments to the spectators.

At the end of the screening Isabel Castro, the director of the film, will be present to answer questions from the audience. In addition to being a filmmaker, the Mexican-American Castro is a journalist and has dedicated part of her career to telling stories about migration, civil rights and identity through several documentaries, series and multimedia projects for The New York Times.

The documentary will be shown Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. at the Fox, 17 W. Congress St. Tickets are $6 through foxtucson.com. To watch the trailer, visit tucne.ws/1lw0.