Photo by: Latino Public Broadcasting / PBS.
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, the Latino Public Broadcasting announced the launch of a new series of short films called “Latinos Are Essential,” which chronicles the stories of Latinos during the COVID-19 pandemic and showcases the work of dedicated “essential workers” (health care providers, teachers, food service workers, retail clerks and others) who have kept our country going while caring for their own families, a release about the series said.
One of the films included in the series, Growing in the Shadows, features the story of Anel Medina, a DACA recipient from Pennsylvania and one of our Winter 2020 California-Mexico Dreamers Study Abroad Program participants. Moreover, the film was done by our very own multimedia director and filmmaker, Lidieth Arevalo.
ABOUT THE FILM:
Anel Medina is a 28-year-old registered nurse and one of the 200,000 DACA recipients who are classified as essential workers, serving Americans across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Born in El Salvador and raised in California, Lidieth Arevalo is a DACA recipient, an immigrant rights activist, multimedia producer and editor specializing in documentary filmmaking. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Documentary Filmmaking from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts and a B.A. in Film and Electronic Media Arts from California State University, Long Beach. In the last 6 years, she has produced several short documentaries and digital videos featuring stories of identity, immigration, diversity and inclusion. She is an active leader and member of the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, which uplifts the film expertise of undocumented people not only as sources of stories but also as creators, artists, and primary audiences. Some of her recent documentaries include Alpharaoh (2019), Ladylike (2019) Advance Parole (2018), ERUSD Leader of the Ethnic Studies Revolution (2018), and Sin Raiz (2015).
You can watch the film below or click here:
All the shorts are available PBS.org, the PBS Video App and also eventually on PBS Voices, a YouTube channel from PBS Digital Studios that aims to explore what unites us through short-form documentaries.
