Award-winning documentary from Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Maite Zubiaurre is chilling look at the tireless volunteers who search for human remains of Latino immigrants in the desert

Not long ago, I received an email from a former professor of mine at UCLA, Dr. Maite Zubiaurre, via a listserv for researchers in Spanish literature and culture, with regard to a film project she has been involved with and the support that she and her colleagues are in need of for a future project. I’m sharing it here in case anyone is in a position to help. The short film she references is embedded below, followed by the text of her email.

“I am writing to you to kindly ask for your support. You probably know already about Aguilas/Eagles, a short documentary on migrant death and the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border that I co-directed, co-produced and co-wrote with our colleague from TFT, Kristy Guevara-Flanagan. It has won numerous awards (https://www.aguilasdocumentary.com/), is on the New Yorker webpage (you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Kduui1Lag), and will air on November 22 on the Oscar and Emmy awarded PBS series, POV. And…fresh news, Aguilas just won its sixth award, the Nashville Film Festival award for best short doc! 

But, let me cut to the chase: I am presently co-producing and co-writing yet another documentary, this time a feature doc, for which I am kindly requesting your help: 

We are launching a crowdfunding campaign for our documentary film SIN NADA / WITH NOTHING. To learn more about the project and the power of empathy, go to http://sinnada.info.

SIN NADA tells the story of four migrants who take action into their own hands to help the families of other migrants who have lost their lives in the Arizona desert. The goal of the documentary is to raise awareness about migrant death and the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border. Since the 1990s, more than 4,000 migrant remains have been recovered from the Arizona borderlands, and it is estimated that for each body found, there are five more the desert will never give back. In the face of this harrowing tragedy, our documentary has a second, equally important purpose: to highlight the richly complex network of migrant care and solidarity that takes place at the border. Our documentary focuses on the agency and action of these activists who are showing us all the way forward.

Despite the many challenges COVID poses, our team (co-producers, co-writers, and co-directors José Luis Figueroa, Omar Foglio, and Paola Rodríguez, of the Emmy award-winning artistic collective Dignicraft; co-producer and co-writer Maite Zubiaurre, co-director, co-producer, and co-writer of the award-winning short documentary Aguilas; and co-producer and co-writer Jonathan Jae-an Crisman) was able to film in Arizona and to finish the first part of our documentary. But now we need your help to film the second part, which takes place in rural Mexico. Please consider donating, and help us by sharing this email widely with friends, family, and colleagues!

You can find out more, and learn about a range of cool perks you can receive with a donation at http://sinnada.info. You can also follow and repost us on social media on Instagram and Facebook at @sinnada.info. Thank you!”

Again, please help this work by sharing this information with others. And let us know what you though about “Águilas” in the comments below. ¡Gracias!

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