Sometime ago, I blogged about Gerson, Alejandro and Jonathan, three illegal immigrant students living a hard life “on their own.”
Coming at the time amidst the fall-out over Arizona’s enactment of the anti-illegal immigrant law known as SB 1070, the local Phoenix newspaper ran an affecting story about the three youths. The reporter put a warm, compassionate face on their daunting struggle.
Following the 85th Academy Awards last month, I was intrigued once more by yet another undocumented immigrant student’s story. On the world-weary face of it, you might ask, “What’s the point of another such story?” After all, there are many such Dreamers.
Nevertheless, I was curious enough to find out more about the winner for “Short Documentary,” Inocente.
What I found was a surprisingly relatable, emotionally stirring and ultimately uplifting story of a fifteen-year-old called Inocente. She is a homeless, undocumented immigrant who admits to dreaming “silly dreams.” Even so, she is nonetheless determined to become an artist — “and go her own way” despite the long odds and an unsparing future.
It’s an affecting, beautifully rendered film. And she is an inspiring and talented young woman. “What if we could walk the clouds and ride shooting stars?” she asks.
“I have impossible dreams, but I still dream them,” she explains.
“Homeless, creative, unstoppable.” Inocente is very much worth knowing about.
See the Oscar-winning documentary ‘Inocente‘ (complete video) at Pocho.
______________________________________________________________
Photo Credits: DSC_0886, by Robert Silz, longislandwins at Flickr via Creative Commons-licensed content requiring attribution; Innocente Cover at “Stories 99,” http://stories99.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Inocente-Cover.jpg.
