El Chogui: A Mexican Immigrant Story 2001
Distributed by Filmakers Library Inc., 124 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016; 212-808-4980
Producer n/a
Directed by Felix Zurita
VHS, color, 57 min.
High School - College
Multicultural Studies, Economics, International Relations, Social Work
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Homa Naficy, Coordinator, The American Place: A Resource Center for Immigrants and Refugees, Hartford Public Library, Hartford, CTA tender and poignant documentary about a young Mexican, Luis Miguel, nicknamed "El Chogui" (Little Bird), who illegally enters the U.S. wishing to become a world champion boxer. Luis Miguel anticipates that he can make enough money as a boxer to provide for his siblings and aging parents.
He and his sister daringly climb over the metal fence that separates the U.S. from Mexico. They evade both the U. S. Border Patrol and dangerous hustlers. Once in U.S.territory, Luis Miguel faces depredation common to the lives of immigrants, legal and illegal. Along with terror over the possibility of arrest and deportation by the I.N.S., he toils long hours at below minimum wages. He receives no benefits, no social security, no security at all. Worst is the anguish of separation from loved ones. His is a life of broken dreams, harshness, and despair.
Instead of success as a champion boxer, Luis Miguel serves as a waiter in a hotel. Working in a respectable position with increasing responsibility, El Chogui manages to send for his brothers. An attempt by his elderly parents to apply for a tourist visa fails, though. They do not have the necessary connections with the embassy and are too old to climb any metal fence.
Luis Miguel argues that it is the right of humans to live anywhere in the world and that the U.S. is getting rich from the labor of underpaid and exploited Mexican "wetbacks". As the American public has since September 11 grown increasingly suspicious of the questionable citizenship of perpetrators of that terror, this film speaks for the innocent majority.
Its interviews and narrative, along with its background flow evenly, into a production that is informative, insightful, and compelling. This reviewer highly recommends El Chogui: A Mexican Immigrant Story for public libraries, high school and academic media collections supporting programming in Diversity, Social Work, Economics, and International Relations.