EL NORTE

Year: 1983
USA: Artisan Entertainment
Cast: Zaide Silvia Gutierrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gomez Cruz, Alicia Del Lago, Trinidad Silva, Lupe Ontiveros, Abel Franco, Enrique Castillo, Tony Plana, Diane Civita, Mike Gomez, Sergi Dagliana, Giuseppe Furia, Pado Hende, Christina Kokubo, George O'Hanlon, Sabina Vannucchi, Eraclio Zepeda
Director: Gregory Nava
Countries: UK / USA
USA: 139 mins
USA Release Date: 8 September 2000 (Limited Re-release - Los Angeles)

Synopsis

EL NORTE was one of the first films to portray faithfully the plight of Central American political refugees, El Norte is a remarkable fusion of documentary realism and visual poetry. When their father is killed and their mother arrested by the military, Rosa Xuncax (Zaide Silvia Gutierrez) and her brother Enrique (David Villalpando) flee the coffee fields of Guatemala for el norte, a place they know only from pictures in their godmother Josefita's Better Homes and Gardens magazines. Alone in a strange land, they have only each other. Their trip is often harrowing, taking them through the teeming squalor of Tijuana to the anonymous streets of Los Angeles, but there is time for joy and laughter, too.