Mexican-American filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes has been announced as the third recipient of the Roberto Guerra Documentary Fund. Established in 2014, the Fund has raised $16,000 towards “supporting and encouraging” up-and-coming Latin-American and US-based filmmakers interested in creating documentaries.
As the winner of the award, Reyes will receive $2,500 to complete his documentary feature Sanson and Me “which combines the language of fiction with documentary” in its examination of “immigration, class and opportunity with the criminal justice system.” Reyes is set to be honored with a ceremony at UnionDocs on Sunday, February 4th at 4:30 p.m. A screening of clips will be shown featuring Reyes’ work, as well as a discussion with Remezcla contributor Manuel Betancourt.
Reyes first came to prominence with his 2016 documentary Purgatorio: A Journey into the Heart of the Border which looked at the deadly Sonoran desert near the U.S.-Mexican border. He elaborated on the struggles of making the documentary with an exclusive travel diary outlining the filming. He followed Purgatorio up with the short Barbarians, a simpler story detailing the lives of two deported migrants trying to cross the border one last time. His work has been showcased at several prominent film festivals, including Tribeca and Sundance, and Filmmaker magazine labeled him of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
You can learn more about the reception for Reyes, as well as the Roberto Guerra Documentary Fund on the UnionDocs website.