Guatemalan Film Director Luis Argueta on campus

On Saturday, October 24th Guatemalan Film Director Luis Argueta will be on campus to discuss his latest film, ABRAZOS. Following a viewing of the film, the director will answers questions from the audience. This event is free and open to the public. 
Bryant University
Fisher Center, Room 2C 
3:00 pm


ABRAZOS tells the transformational journey of a group of U.S. citizen children who travel from Minnesota to Guatemala to meet their grandparents for the first time. After being separated for nearly two decades, these families are able to share stories, strengthen traditions and begin to reconstruct their cultural identity. There are 4.5 million US Citizen Children living with at least one undocumented parent. This is the story of 14 of them.




Luis Argueta holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and a MFA in Romance Languages from the U of Michigan. With 32+ years of experience directing shorts, experimental, feature and documentary films; episodic TV and commercials, Argueta recently became the first filmmaker to receive the Orden del Quetzal, Guatemala’s highest civilian honor.
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Luis Argueta is a film director and producer whose work spans features, documentaries, shorts and episodic TV. He has also worked as commercial director, lecturer and teacher in the United States, Europe and throughout the Americas. Born and raised in Guatemala, Argueta is a U.S. Citizen and has been a resident of New York since 1977. His film The Silence of Neto is the only Guatemalan film ever to have been submitted to the Academy Awards competition and he is the only Guatemalan director to have received a CLIO. In April 2009, the British newspaper The Guardian, listed Mr. Argueta as one of Guatemala’s National Living Icons, alongside Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu and Singer/Songwriter Ricardo Arjona. In 2010, he released abUSed: The Postville Raid, a film about the devastating effects of US immigration enforcement policies on children, families and communities. The film premiered on the PBS World program America Reframed on December 2012, won “Best Documentary Audience Award” at Cinemaissi Film Festival in Finland and has been presented at nearly 200 venues - including immigration and workers conferences, faith based communities, universities and colleges and 13 international film festivals. The second film, ABRAZOS, follows the journey of 14 U.S. Citizen Children from Minnesota to Guatemala to meet their grandparents -and in some instances their siblings- for the first time. The U-Turn, will complete the immigration trilogy. It tells the story of a group of migrant women and under-age workers who broke the silence about the abuses they endured and of the community that would not abandon them. It showcases the U visa and is now in postproduction. In August of 2015, Luis Argueta was awarded the Order of Quetzal in the degree of Grand Officer, the highest honor given by Guatemala, Luis Argueta’s films can now be viewed online at www.luisarguetaa.com.