To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in the United State, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you this particularly relevant student film.
National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15.
The very short reel highlights the struggle with cultural diversity in this country from a young girl’s point of view, and uses her own encounters with intolerance as inspiration.
The film was made by Bianca Valle, my daughter, and submitted with her college applications last year. She is currently a student at NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television.
“‘Las luces que ilustran’ provides the viewer with a visual insight into one of my personal struggles: accepting my heritage. The multi-colored light strings in this film represent different cultures trying to intermingle with the white lights which characterize intolerant people. Everyone wants to be accepted for who they are, not for what they look like. The bright lights against the stark black background in this video represent my struggle to come out of the darkness of cultural identity and illuminate a path of tolerance for those behind me.”
Las luces que ilustran — Second Edit from Bianca Valle on Vimeo.
To say that we are proud of her is putting it mildly. ¡Si se puede!
Oh, Suzette, your daughter did such a lovely thing with such a difficult subject. It’ s so hard to fit in and still identify with all that makes us unique. It’s even harder to fit in when others refuse to let us. They say, don’t set yourself apart… blend in… but when we try, we aren’t always warmly received. I was just told that a brand wasn’t sure about working with me because I was writing so much about Mexico recently. It was suggested that I curb my enthusiasm. I didn’t. If they want to work with me or not, it shouldn’t have anything to do with being proud of my heritage.
Sugar, are you kidding me? But, I really shouldn’t be surprised to hear this. That brand is missing out on reaching some of the 52 million HISPANICS who live in the USA. Unreal! Solo recuerda que ¡si se puede!