y
ar
document
world cinema
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contemporar
Swift Justice: illegal immigration in america Tahaan
USA
The raid on Swift meatpacking plants in Greeley and six other loca-
INDIA
Director Santosh Sivan’s tender fable about childhood innocence amid
Directors: Julie Speer Hunniford, tions nationwide in December 2006 by agents of the Immigration and Director: Santosh Sivan the realities of war is set against the rugged landscape of Kashmir, so
Mateos Alvarez
Customs Enforcement Bureau (ICE) ignited a heated debate about the Producers: Shripal Morakhia, long a flashpoint for the territorial claims of neighboring India and
Producers: Julie Speer Hunniford,
place of undocumented workers in the United States and their exploita-
Mubina Rattonsey
Pakistan. The title character, an eight-year-old mountain boy, often
Mateos Alvarez, Sara Aderhold
tion by employers. More than 1,200 workers were arrested, and many Screenwriters: Santosh Sivan, hears distant gunfire. But it is not until he goes on a quest to reclaim
Screenwriters: Julie Speer Hunniford,
have been held in legal limbo ever since as their cases are sorted out
Ritesh Menon, Paul Hardart
his beloved donkey, which has been confiscated as payment of his poor
MS: A to Z
Mateos Alvarez, Sara Aderhold,
– while others were immediately deported back to Mexico and Central
Cinematographer: Santosh Sivan
family’s debts, that he is drawn toward a violence he has no capacity to
MS: A to Z
il
Steering Committee Members
America. Human rights advocates accused law enforcement officers Editor: Shakti Hasija understand.
il
Cinematographers:
of casting the workers as dangerous criminals, noting the atypical and
Julie Speer Hunniford, Sara Aderhold,
Cast: Purav Bhandare, Victor Banerjee,
E F
Scott Reyes, Dutch Simpson,
unusually public steps of not only long-term incarceration but also bur-
Rahul Bose, Ankush Dubey,
Simply told and beautifully photographed among snow-capped peaks
E F
h
Georgina Guidotti, Mateos Alvarez
densome fines imposed before deportation. A Swift official’s description
Rasika Dugal, Rahul Khanna,
h
T
and frozen lakes, Tahaan follows the boy as he passes through military
T
Anupam Kher, Sana Shaikh,
Editors: Georgina Guidotti,
of the raids (or “enforcement actions,” as one district attorney calls checkpoints, tries to bargain with merchants, and receives kindnesses
Dheirya Sonecha
Dutch Simpson them) makes clear that ICE had planned its sweep with the single goal from strangers, all while seeking to get his pet out of repossession.
2008 / color / 105 min.
2009 / color / 56 min.
of making Swift an example for other companies. Portrayed by newcomer Purav Bhandare, the tiny child wearing the
green wool cap becomes a commanding presence in the film – not least
Codirectors Mateos Alvarez and Julie Speer Hunniford of the activist because we learn early on that his father has been missing in action
JuLiE SPEEr hunniForD
media group Little Voice Productions explore the context and ramifica-
SanToSh SiVan
for more than three years, and he now sees himself as the man of the
Award-winning documentarian Julie tions of the raid through interviews with people on both sides of the
Born in Kerala, India, Santosh Sivan
family. His grandfather has died; his mother is mute.
Speer Hunniford has been creating
issue, from the impact on families coping with legal troubles and sudden comes from a family of filmmakers and
film and video projects for over a
loss of income to the arguable morality of current immigration statutes.
is internationally recognized as both
When an elder tells him, “Without a purpose, there is no meaning to
decade. Her Emmy-nominated Sweet
a director and a cinematographer. In
Ambition and Haiti’s Small Miracles
Among the dozens of people interviewed are law enforcement person- life,” Tahaan is bewildered. “What is my purpose?” he asks. Ominously,
1998, Sivan won the Best Director Award
both premiered at the Starz Denver Film
nel, immigration lawyers and reformers, the immigrants themselves,
and the Golden Pyramid for Malli at the
a possible answer emerges when a Kashmiri rebel enlists the unknow-
Festival. She graduated from Vesalius and the former mayor of Greeley, Tom Selders, who was defeated in
Cairo International Film Festival.
ing child to toss a hand grenade into an army camp. As the dramatic
College in Brussels, Belgium, with a
the 2008 election largely because of his antiraid stance. Swift Justice tension increases, we hope against hope that mercy and miracle will
degree in international affairs and
premiered in Greeley in July of this year. Selected Filmography intervene. This is, after all, a boy who has called out to his donkey,
economics.
Before the Rains (2007)
“Soon the sun will say goodbye and the moon will say hello,” and our
Asoka the Great (2001)
hearts are wholly with him.
MaTEoS aLVarEz
The Terrorist (1999)
Mateos Alvarez currently works as the
Halo (1997)
political director for Colorado for SEIU, In cooperation with: Aurora Asian/pacific Community partnership
one of the fastest-growing unions in the
United States. Alvarez graduated with a
double major in Southwest studies and
world history with an emphasis in Latin
America and a minor in Spanish from
the University of Northern Colorado
– Greeley. His background involves
grassroots organizing and political
campaign building.
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