Siempre Adelante: A Look at Faith and the Immigrant Struggle
2013
Siempre Adelante features the life narratives of four immigrants from three different countries (Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala) who share the struggle of always moving forward. This film offers a minuscule sample of the large immigrant population of Alachua county and north central Florida. These brave individuals allow us to take a peek into their personal struggles with domestic violence, exploitation, family dynamics, and their journey to a foreign land in hopes of providing a better quality of life for themselves and their loved ones. The goal of this film is to impart how religion and the church has been a source of support and motivation for them in the face of fear and discrimination in an unwelcoming land. Siempre Adelante hopes to motivate fellow believers to become part of the immigrant rights movement, and to realize that these stories are a reflection of the lives of their sisters and brothers.
Concept by Jaime Zelaya and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program.