“We are all Americans of the New World, and our most dangerous enemies are not each other, but the great wall of ignorance between us.” – Juan González, Harvest of Empire
Win tickets to any screening. Email us at programming (at) SfLatinoFilmFestival.com with your name & either Harvest/Berkeley or Harvest/SanFrancisco in the subject line.
At a time of heated and divisive debate over immigration, comes HARVEST OF EMPIRE, a feature-length documentary that examines the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today. Based on the groundbreaking book by award-winning journalist Juan González, HARVEST OF EMPIRE takes an unflinching look at the role that U.S. economic and military interests played in triggering an unprecedented wave of migration that is transforming our nation’s cultural and economic landscape.
From the wars for territorial expansion that gave the U.S. control of Puerto Rico, Cuba and more than half of Mexico, to the covert operations that imposed oppressive military regimes in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, this documentary unveils a moving human story that is largely unknown to the great majority of citizens in the U.S. “They never teach us in school that the huge Latino presence here is a direct result of our own government’s actions in Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America over many decades — actions that forced millions from that region to leave their homeland and journey north,” says Juan González at the beginning of the film.
The film features present day immigrant stories, rarely seen archival material, as well as interviews with such respected figures as Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Junot Díaz, Mexican historian Dr. Lorenzo Meyer, journalists Maria Hinojosa and Geraldo Rivera, Grammy award-winning singer Luis Enrique, and poet Martín Espada.
Filmmakers are producer J. Wendy Thompson-Marquez (Onyx Media Group, EVS Communications, Telemundo), co-director & producer Eduardo López (EVS Communications, Spanish TV’s Línea Directa, winner of Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World Award), and co-director & producer Peter Getzels (PBS series Closer to Truth, documentaries for National Geographic, BBC, Channel 4, Discovery Channel.)
Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinemas, 601 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
DIRECTOR IN PERSON: Eduardo Lopez will speak in person on 3/8 at the 7:00pm & 9:40pm shows
Showtimes (valid 3/8-3/14): Fri-Sat: 12:15, 2:35, 4:50, 7:00, 9:40; Sun: 12:15, 2:35, 4:50, 7:00; Mon-Thur: 2:35, 4:50, 7:00 BUY TICKETS
Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley (510) 644-2992
DIRECTOR IN PERSON: Eduardo Lopez will speak in person on 3/9 at the 5:00pm & 7:20pm shows.
Showtimes (valid 3/8-3/14): Fri-Thur: 2:40, 5:00, 7:20, 9:40 BUY TICKETS
