Luis Argueta

It is at once an epic story of survival, hope, and humble aspirations, of triumph, defeat, and rebirth. The face of immigration is revealed through the gripping personal stories of the individuals, the families, and the town that survived the most brutal, most expensive, and the largest immigration raid in the history of the United States.

A boy struggles against his stifling family life during the 1954 Guatemala coup.

A boy struggles against his stifling family life during the 1954 Guatemala coup.

Arrabal's sixth film based on his novel from 1969 with the same name as the movie.

The story of the persecution of homosexuals and intellectuals in Cuba under Fidel Castro's dictatorship, from the beginning of the Cuban Revolution (1953-59) until the early 1980s. Interviews with relevant personalities of Cuban culture who suffered persecution demonstrate that concentration camps for gays existed in Cuba.

Guatemala 1976: A metaphor of natural devastation and political violence. Amidst the earthquake-shattered walls of Luis Argueta's childhood home, a young girl drinks the blood of a turkey as the sound of a manual typewriter is drowned by machine gun fire.

An experimental film, black and white 16 mm film, made specifically to be submitted to the Ann Arbor Film Festival depicting a life drawing class where the model is dressed and the students are naked. This is Luis Argueta’s first black and white16 mm film. It includes an elaborate sound design by Joe Pearson. Argueta says that “the film was admitted to the Ann Arbor Film Festival, it was selected for the tour of campuses the festival puts together every year where each film received $1 per minute every time it was projected. My film was 7 min long and it must have been shown at least 43 times because I made back my $300 investment. It was the only time I ever made back the money I put into making a film. But it was the first time I felt I could express myself and invent something new and unique.” The title is a fake apology.