El Norte; a film part of Dartmouth Film Series!
When
Where
Lebanon Street (Part of the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth), Hanover , NH
El Norte
Gregory Nava’s dramatic 1983 masterpiece weaves in elements of Aztec and Mayan mythology with a quest for the American dream.
After their family is killed in a union-busting government massacre, indigenous Mayan siblings Enrique and Rosa decide to flee Guatemala and embark on a perilous journey to America— “El Norte”—in search of a better life. Facing danger and persecution on every step of the way, their love and resolve eventually bring them to shimmery Los Angeles, which soon proves to be gilded rather than gold.
A tour de force of independent filmmaking, Pava expertly weaves Aztec and Mayan mythology with the modern American Dream, blending magical realism with poignant social commentary as he captures the realities of the modern immigrant experience.
D: Gregory Nava, US, 1983, 2h21m
Programmed in collaboration with Professor Gerd Gemunden’s class “Coming to America”
Part of the Dartmouth Film Society series “Myths Revisited”