Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:15:47 -0500
From: Molly Matlock
Subject: Southern Documentary Fund’s “THE GUESTWORKER” Scheduled for two special Screenings in Chatham County Nov. 14th and 18th.*
“*The Guestworker*” will screen a second time in Pittsboro as a co-presentation of *ChathamArts* and *The Southern Documentary Fund* on Tuesday evening *November 18th, 7:00 p.m.* at the *General Store Café* in * Pittsboro*. As a regular part of the *Chatham** Arts Council* *100-Mile Sustainable Cinema Series*, this second showing will be offered for $5 admission. Proceeds support arts programs throughout the county and will eventually help support a youth in documentary afterschool project.
The ongoing series is an opportunity to enjoy and celebrate local films and filmmakers. We, along with the NC Arts Incubator, El Vinculo Hispano, & the Southern Documentary Fund are particularly proud to present such a powerful and relevant story as “The Guestworker.”
“The Guestworker” documents the experiences of Don Candelario Gonzalez Moreno, a 66 year-old Mexican farmer who has been coming to the U.S. since the 1960s to do farm work. Since 1986, he has come as part of the H2A Guest Worker program. Despite his age, he continues to work long hours in the tobacco, cucumber, and pepper fields, compelled by his concern and love for his family, particularly his ailing wife. In Mexico, we see that Don Cande at home in Durango, Mexico with his family; these scenes with Don Candelario are visually stunning and provide a powerful counterpoint to his life on the farm in the United States. “The Guestworker” follows Don Candelario through one grueling season; through this intimate and personal story, viewers learn about this little-known H2A Guest Worker program that has been in existence
for over twenty years.
Both politically and culturally, debates around immigration reform continue to demand national attention. As the United States engages in deliberations of who will do our farm work and how they will be employed, these issues spill into larger concerns of class, race, and access. “The Guestworker” explores the complexity of immigration issues in a way that allows individuals and organizations from disparate perspectives to connect with the characters in the film, and to engage in productive dialogue.
Shot over a two-year period in North Carolina and Mexico, “The Guestworker” was directed and produced by independent filmmaker Cynthia Hill (“Tobacco Money Feeds My Family” and “February One”) and Dr. Charles Thompson, Education and Curriculum Director at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.
The Sustainable Cinema series runs twice monthly on selected Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. The series features documentaries and independent films involving producers, directors, subjects and/or locations within 100 miles of Pittsboro. Proceeds benefit ChathamArts, which promotes and presents the arts through monthly cultural programs & events, artists residencies in the schools and community, gallery exhibits, and other community building efforts.
*Admission is $5 and $3 for students for films at The General Store Café. The Nov. 14th Siler City screening at the NC Arts Incubator is free.* For additional information contact ChathamArts, 919-542-0394, _
www.chathamarts.org_ (http://www.chathamarts.org).
The General Store Café is located at 39 West Street, just off the courthouse circle in historic downtown Pittsboro. The NC Arts Incubator is located at 223 N. Chatham Ave., downtown Siler City. *More Information about the film series can be found at http://www.chathamarts.org/news/sustainablecinema9-08.html. More information about the film online at http://www.theguestworker.com*
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