“When you come here to America, some people are very successful. Others come here and they don't have anyone to trust and they don't have any help,” the American filmmaker of Mexican parents, Fernando Rodríguez, recently pointed out in an interview with the LA Times.

This is how he talks about the recent premiere of his film “Por mi hija”, which tells the story of a couple he met in Jalostotitlán, Jalisco. Emma and Leo —characters played by Daniela Vidaurre and Christopher Bustos— fell in love and got married. After expecting their first child and due to the lack of economical resources, the family decided to emigrate to the United States like many other Mexicans do in search of a better future. However, a tragedy forces them to return to their homeland.

“Like Emma and Leo, many inhabitants of the small towns of Mexico have made this same journey. They are very hard-working country people who go to church, live off the land, but some accept the challenge of emigrating to improve the lives of their families, although later they understand that the 'American dream' is not for everyone, and may well be a mirage, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't,” Rodríguez said in an interview with the Film Journalists of Mexico (Pecime).

With this film, Rodríguez seeks to make visible stories of forced migration with which many Mexicans can feel identified. He intends, at the same time, to relate how -sometimes- achieving the long-awaited American dream can become a path of stones rather than roses.

The Latino filmmaker also hopes to break down myths and prejudices that are woven around Mexicans, who often appear in series and movies playing erroneously stereotyped characters.

“Por mi hija” premiered at the ninth edition of the Great Festival of Mexican Cinema, in Guadalajara. It is currently available on the Amazon Prime Video and tubi tv streaming platforms in the United States. Soon it can also be viewed  in Latin America and Europe.

About Fernando Rodriguez

This 41-year-old filmmaker is an US born Latino, son of Mexican migrant parents in the United States. This condition makes him feel close to migration stories like the one he himself wrote for the “Por mi hija” script. 

Fernando Rodríguez was born in San Diego, close to the American border with Mexico, and during his childhood he was a witness of how hundreds of Mexicans arrived in the United States and hid. Rodríguez did not understand why people had to find shelter like fugitives. “I saw people hiding under the bridge. They were people who looked like me and who spoke my same language. As a child, you wonder why they had to hide and why I didn't have to hide too, ” he finally reflected.