Interested in hosting a virtual screening? Inquire here!
José is an excellent student with a bright future except that he is undocumented, the child of migrant farm laborers in California's Salinas Valley. EAST OF SALINAS asks, what is lost when kids like José are denied opportunities?
A story about immigration, childhood and circumstance.
EAST OF SALINAS begins with 3rd grader José telling us what he wants to be when he grows up. His parents work from sun up to sun down in the heart of California's "Steinbeck Country," the Salinas Valley. With little support available at home, José often turns to his teacher, Oscar Ramos, once a migrant farm kid himself. In fourth grade his teacher told him if he worked hard he could have a different life. Oscar won a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley. The day he earned his degree, he bought a car and drove home to the fields. He's been teaching ever since.
José is Oscar's most gifted student. But how do you teach students like José who have no place to do their homework? How do you teach a kid who moves every few months? This is what Oscar is up against every day. Oscar not only teaches his students reading, math and science, he gives them access to a world beyond their reach.
But José was born in Mexico — and he's on the cusp of understanding the implications of that. As we watch this play out over three years, we begin to understand the cruelty of circumstance — for José and the many millions of undocumented kids like him.
EAST OF SALINAS asks, what is lost when kids like José are denied opportunities?
53 minutes
SDH Captioning for the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing
Directed by Laura Pacheco, Jackie Mow
Editor: Rachel Clark
Music: Joseph Julian Gonzalez
Director of Photography: Jackie Mow
Executive Producer for ITVS: Sally Jo Fifer
Executive Producer for LPB: Sandie Viquez Pedlow
Supervising Producer: Jen Gilomen
A Co-Production of Rock Salt Creative, LLC and Independent Television (ITVS), produced in association with Latino Public Broadcasting with major funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
 |
Screening options: |
"I cannot think of a more timely intervention than this moving, humanizing portrait of a child, his family, and his teacher. East of Salinas illuminates not only the struggles and hopes of undocumented immigrants, but also the problems of a nation whose policies divide families and limit the opportunities of our youth...This film will spark many conversations and insights."
Kevin Kumashiro, Dean and Professor, School of Education, University of San Francisco, Author, Bad Teacher!: How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture
"A thought-provoking documentary that puts a human face to the raging national debate over undocumented immigration and 'illegal aliens'...It tells of the unsung heroes in our schools, such as dedicated teacher Oscar Ramos, the child of farmworkers himself, who now works to help his students, the children of farmworkers, achieve the American dream."
Kevin R. Johnson, Dean, UC Davis School of Law, Co-Editor, ImmigrationProf Blog, Author, Opening the Floodgates? Why America Needs to Rethink Its Border and Immigration Laws
"East of Salinas is powerful, educational, heartrending, inspirational and unforgettable. It moves hearts and minds - a must for students, teachers, and the general public."
Francisco Jiménez, Emeritus Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures, Santa Clara University, Author, Taking Hold: From Migrant Childhood to Columbia University