Immigration movie 'El Norte' celebrates 25th anniversary

When Gregory Nava's "El Norte" opened in U.S. theaters 25 years ago, immigration was less of a political hot-button issue than it is today, Reed Johnson reports.

Back then, the mass exodus of refugees from Central American countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala was driven as much by civil war as by economics. California's Proposition 187 in 1994 and the pro-immigration marches of May 2006 still were years away.

But in recent months, until the global economic swoon took center stage, immigration became one of the most pressing and polarizing issues on the national agenda. That gives a renewed potency to Nava's $750,000 independent movie about a Guatemalan brother and sister's harrowing odyssey to the United States -- including a memorably grueling crawl through a rat-infested tunnel -- and their struggles in adapting to their new life in Los Angeles.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Zaide Silvia Gutierrez in a scene from "El Norte." Credit: Cinecom International Films

Comments

[Anna C.]

I remember seeing that movie in college - thanks for the update!

[Koliah Michael]

Dear Sir/madam:
Please let me know how I get the Immgration movie El Norte, because this is true that all of us went thru when we came to the Promise Land- The United States de America. I saw once this movie but i cannot find in regular places as Blockbuster, etc, anymore?

I must have this movie in just to show to my descendents born in the Unites of America.

Thank you very much for your reply about this movie EL NORTE.

Chao. Salem!
MIchael

[southoc]

Better start migrating south. Things are ugly in El Norte.

[Jay Hamilton]

As a retired AP/IB Spanish teacher in Orange County I still recognize "El Norte" as one of the best films about human struggle and individual sacrifice.

[jojo]

That's "iILLEGAL Immigration movie 'El Norte' celebrates 25th anniversary

[Victor Lomeli]

Still Love this movie!