A documentary made by student filmmakers at Rutgers under the guidance of an Academy Award-winning educator and an activist documentarian is having its premiere public screening in downtown New Brunswick.
Promotora, a 14-minute film focused on Mexican American women who travel around New Brunswick and serve as educators about health care resources available to their communities, is one of three short films that will be screened during a sold-out event at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center, “Mexican/American: The Search for Health and Happiness,” followed by a conversation about health and well-being in New Jersey’s Mexican American communities.
Promotora features promotora Teresa Vivar as well as mother-and-daughter promotoras Martha and Kareli Barragan. The piece was filmed by 10 students from the Documentary Film Lab, housed within the Rutgers Filmmaking Center at Mason Gross.
In the documentary, Martha Barragan says in Spanish, “I didn’t know I could go to a clinic. I didn’t know I could go to a hospital. I was always with that fear that they will not treat me. Or that they would ask for my documentation.” The promotoras taught her otherwise.
Alum Ivanna Guerrero worked on the film in 2021 and 2022, while she was a student at Mason Gross.
“The love and care that these women have for their community is just so amazing to see, and I wanted to be a part of bringing this to light,” Guerrero says. “The one thing I love about us Latinos is we will do anything for our family, our community. I personally would do anything for the people I love. The promotoras have helped Latinos for years, and they did it for nothing but the joy of seeing their community healthy.”
Read more about the film and the event on Rutgers Today.
Image credit: Kareli, from left, and Martha Barragan in a still from Promotora.