(Canceled) Lecture: On Caravans, Raids, and Xenophobia

Luis Argueta, renowned film director and producer, to discuss lasting effects of immigration and family separation at Assumption lecture

Renowned Guatemalan-American film director and producer Luis Argueta will present a lecture titled, “Ausencia: On Caravans, Raids and Xenophobia,” on Wednesday, March 25 at 4 p.m. in the Fuller Auditorium of Assumption’s Testa Science Center, 500 Salisbury St., Worcester.   

In this conversation on Central American migration, Argueta will discuss his forthcoming documentary, Ausencia (Absence), which examines the long-lasting effects of family separations and delves into migration pressures, patterns, return migration, and reintegration of returning migrants in Mexico and the so-called Northern Triangle countries of Central America.  

Argueta has been telling transnational immigrant stories through his works since 1977, which have included feature films, documentaries, shorts, and commercial and episodic TV.  His film series on immigration—abUSed: The Postville Raid, ABRAZOS and The U Turn—shines a light on the true human face of immigrants, their resilience and struggles to succeed, as well as their contributions to their communities and to American society.  Argueta’s 1994 film, The Silence of Neto, was the first Guatemalan film to be submitted to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.  In 2015, he became the only filmmaker to receive Guatemala’s highest honor, the Orden del Quetzal in the degree of Grand Officer.  Argueta also received the 2019 Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award from the National Peace Corps Association.    

The lecture, which serves as the Ecumenical Institute’s 2020 St. Marie Eugenie Milleret Lecture, is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by Campus Ministry, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures, and the Latin American Studies program.