Synopsis of Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos in North
Carolina
Produced and Directed by Penny Simpson
and Joanne Hershfield
The documentary Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos in North Carolina
(58:35 minutes) was shot in digital format and highlights key historical
moments of the recent Latino immigrant experience in North Carolina.
The documentary looks at North Carolina's transformation in the twenty-first
century, with its changing demographics, in this case focusing on the
increasing numbers of Latinos moving into the state during the last
decade. This demographic shift reflects a change that is taking place
not only at the state level, but at the national level as well. The
video examines some of the issues confronting Latinos in this southern
state as well as the very positive impact their arrival has had on North
Carolina's economy. The documentary also reflects on cultural encounters
between Anglos and Latinos in a state that, prior to the last decade,
had relatively few Latinos. North Carolina experienced an increase of
over 400% in its Latino population during the 1990s. Five out of thirty
U.S. counties experiencing the most rapid growth in Latino population
between 1990 and 1996 are located in North Carolina. Potential for continued
growth is great because more than half of the state's Latino immigrants
are between eighteen and thirty-five years of age. Over 55 hours of
footage were shot for the project between 1999 and 2001.
The first public screenings of Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos
in North Carolina were held during the XV
Latin American Film Festival in November of 2001 on three different
North Carolina university campuses. Additional screenings by invitation
were programmed throughout 2002 at conferences, seminars and forums.
Also in 2002 the documentary was featured in film festivals in San
Diego, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, and Hot
Springs, Arkansas and in 2003 in Holland,
Michigan. It has been broadcast wordwide by TVE SA of Spain in Europe,
Asia, Africa, and the Americas and in North Carolina on public television
in 2003.
This documentary was made possible in part by grants from
the North Carolina Humanities
Council, the Institute
for Southern Studies and through in-kind support from El
Centro Hispano, Inc., the Department
of Communications of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, New Century Digital
Media of Chapel Hill, and with the help of family, friends and North
Carolina's Latino community.
Co-producers and Directors:
A native of North Carolina, Penny Simpson graduated from
the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. After film courses at NYU and in California, she worked professionally
in film, video and music production in California, New York, and in
Mexico, where she lived for over seventeen years. She currently works
as a documentary filmmaker and research analyst and as an advocate for
Latino issues in North Carolina.
Joanne Hershfield is a documentary filmmaker who teaches
film and video production and media studies in the Department
of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. Also a film scholar, she has published and co-edited several
books on Mexican cinema, including The
Invention of Dolores del Río, Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota Press, 2000 and MEXICO'S CINEMA: A Century of Film and
Filmmakers: David R. Maciel and Joanne Hershfield, Co-editors, Wilmington,
DE: Scholarly Resources, 1999.
Reviews
"This is a documentary that avoids sentimentality
without sacrificing a sense of solidarity with its subject. The breadth
and depth of Nuestra Comunidad make it an invaluable social
document and a much needed addition to the immigration debate."
Film Scholar Dr. Keith Richards, Wake Forest University
2002
"I think you can show a film like ("Nuestra
Comunidad...") and have some really good discussions,"
Mújica said. "It's a very balanced film, and it
really talks about what's going on in North Carolina. I think
a lot of communities are waiting for something like this."
Sharon Mújica, Outreach Director of the Consortium
in Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina in Chapel
Hill - UNC News Service Oct. 25, 2001 - No. 540
"Nuestra Comunidad - Latinos in North Carolina
is a great educational tool for creating cultural awareness and in workshops
for diversity counselors...a "must-have" for any hospital,
health department and school system impacted by the growing Spanish-speaking
community
Al Cole, Marketing Director, American Social Health
Association 2003
"Nuestra Comunidad is a very important film
for the Arkansas natives and the Latino community to see."
Annalouiza Armendariz - Hot Springs Documentary Film
Fesitval Screening Committee September 2002
"...The movie was amazing. It was great to see so
many familiar faces from our community here in North Carolina discussing
many of the issues we hope to learn more about and possiblity document
in Mexico."
Jessica Clough Valverde - Students of the World, Duke
University Class of 2003
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