A Salvadoran American father films a letter to his daughter as he travels along the southern border through unceded lands in search of a place that haunts him—the banks of the Rio Grande where a Salvadoran father and his young daughter drowned. Along the way he contemplates land ownership, migration, and guilt as a Mestizo son of immigrants born on the “free” side of an arbitrary line.
Plays as part of our Short Docs 3: STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND Program
Director Jon Ayon
Director's Statement:
“As a child, the border wall felt inevitable and impenetrable. Even now, it stands immeasurable like a leviathan trampling through desert homelands and twisting towards two oceans. But the people have always been there. And they will continue to be when the wall is no longer.”
Director Biography:
Jon Ayon is a Mestizo (Comcáac/Opata/Pipil/Xicano/Salvadoreño) filmmaker from LA. He began his career directing music videos for punk & indie bands in the Pacific Northwest.
In Oakland, he worked as a Camera Operator and Editor for KDOL-TV & graduated from San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema with honors. His work has earned him awards from The Annenberg Foundation,
The Caucus for Producers, Writers, & Directors, The SF Emmys, and American Zoetrope. Currently, Ayon is an MFA candidate in the Documentary Film program at Stanford. He has worked as an editor on the films HOODIE, THE CELINE ARCHIVE, & ALICE STREET and as a writer for LOWER BOOM.
Ayon’s films highlight issues pertaining to the Latinx Diaspora such as Indigeneity, colonialism, & generational trauma.
(English subtitles)
- Year2021
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Spanish
- CountryUnited States, Mexico
- PremiereOregon
- DirectorJon Ayon, Sergine Dumais
- ScreenwriterJon Ayon
- ProducerEmily R. Smith
- CinematographerDaniel Chein
- EditorJon Ayon
- MusicBen Hunter
A Salvadoran American father films a letter to his daughter as he travels along the southern border through unceded lands in search of a place that haunts him—the banks of the Rio Grande where a Salvadoran father and his young daughter drowned. Along the way he contemplates land ownership, migration, and guilt as a Mestizo son of immigrants born on the “free” side of an arbitrary line.
Plays as part of our Short Docs 3: STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND Program
Director Jon Ayon
Director's Statement:
“As a child, the border wall felt inevitable and impenetrable. Even now, it stands immeasurable like a leviathan trampling through desert homelands and twisting towards two oceans. But the people have always been there. And they will continue to be when the wall is no longer.”
Director Biography:
Jon Ayon is a Mestizo (Comcáac/Opata/Pipil/Xicano/Salvadoreño) filmmaker from LA. He began his career directing music videos for punk & indie bands in the Pacific Northwest.
In Oakland, he worked as a Camera Operator and Editor for KDOL-TV & graduated from San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema with honors. His work has earned him awards from The Annenberg Foundation,
The Caucus for Producers, Writers, & Directors, The SF Emmys, and American Zoetrope. Currently, Ayon is an MFA candidate in the Documentary Film program at Stanford. He has worked as an editor on the films HOODIE, THE CELINE ARCHIVE, & ALICE STREET and as a writer for LOWER BOOM.
Ayon’s films highlight issues pertaining to the Latinx Diaspora such as Indigeneity, colonialism, & generational trauma.
(English subtitles)
- Year2021
- Runtime15 minutes
- LanguageEnglish, Spanish
- CountryUnited States, Mexico
- PremiereOregon
- DirectorJon Ayon, Sergine Dumais
- ScreenwriterJon Ayon
- ProducerEmily R. Smith
- CinematographerDaniel Chein
- EditorJon Ayon
- MusicBen Hunter
