Dr. Oscar Guerra showcased his new documentary “Invisible Wounds: Unveiling Migration Trauma” as part of the last Fellow’s Talk of the semester on Wednesday, March 27. Guerra is an associate professor of film and video production at the University of Connecticut and a producer at PBS Frontline.
The movie “chronicles 15-year-old Ruth’s migration from Honduras to the U.S. upon discovering her pregnancy,” according to the synopsis. “The film critically examines mental health barriers, offering a timely and empathetic portrayal of the often-overlooked struggles faced by this vulnerable sector of American society.”
Guerra first described his creative process for the film, where he collaborated with Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University and UConn. He initially came across research on immigration and mental health through faculty at Johns Hopkins, where he asked them “Do you think anyone in the community is reading this?” They answered no, and Guerra knew that he needed to turn their research into a visual medium for audiences to understand.
The main protagonist of the film is Ruth Fajardo, whom Guerra met through contacts at Harvard. He emphasized the importance of fostering relationships with the film’s subjects by earning and maintaining their trust.
The movie was an emotional journey for all involved. Guerra stated that “it’s about finding commonalities at the end of the day.” He found that the Fajardo family’s stories resonated with him, as he understood what it’s like to come from an immigrant family.
There were also challenges associated with the film itself beyond its emotional toll. Guerra described a situation in which he spoke with a distributor, and they stated that people are tired of hearing immigration stories. But this did not deter him as Guerra understood the power of storytelling. “It’s doing work for the people you’re trying to help,” Guerra said.
At the talk, Guerra showed about 15 minutes of the 34-minute film. It begins with Fajardo recounting her mental state at the time. “Nobody talks about depression in Latino houses,” Fajardo stated. She became pregnant at 15 years old, and her family believed she’d be better off in the United States. The journey took her through Guatemala and at various points, she had to cross rivers and avoid border patrols. On Dec. 1, 2004, Fajardo completed her journey.
a theme finds you, not the other way around.
Dr. Oscar Guerra
The movie includes interviews with both Fajardo and her mother, who both acknowledged that there was a disconnect between them. Previously they had mostly spoken over the phone, but this was the first time they had been together in close proximity for a long period of time.
After giving birth, Fajardo dealt with postpartum depression which exacerbated her already declining mental health. An incident that occurred between the two was when Fajardo left the house at night, leaving her baby in the crib. When her mother found out, she struck Fajardo, leading to Fajardo leaving the house on her own.
After talking about this incident, Fajardo reveals to the audience that she was molested by her uncle at four years old, but the environment in Honduras and the church prevented her from healing past her trauma. The notion that a woman must be a virgin to be wed was, and still is, prevalent, so Fajardo felt that she was unworthy because of this. “I always felt like I didn’t have anybody,” Fajardo said.
The end of the 15-minute showing revealed that Fajardo’s mother took her baby away from her custody, and it ended on the unfortunate note that it led to Fajardo attempting to commit suicide. Guerra stopped the film but assured the audience that Fajardo is now well and accounted for.
A response came from Dr. Ana María Díaz-Marcos, a professor of Spanish studies at UConn who specializes in Spanish women writers, Spanish theater and literature. She began by mentioning previous work by Guerra and how these immigration stories involve familial separation and reunification. “Ruth’s story is about overcoming challenges,” Díaz-Marcos stated.
She brought up how women are sometimes ignored or neglected in these stories but commended Guerra for focusing on the female struggles of immigration and mental health. Guerra responded by stating that he comes from a matriarchal family, so he may innately be focusing on strong women because he was surrounded by them. “A theme finds you, not the other way around,” Guerra noted.
Díaz-Marcos also asked what Guerra hoped to gain from his film. Guerra stated that the movie intends to tell these stories to lawmakers who control policy. He hopes that watching these stories will push them to make the right decisions and see migrants in a sympathetic sense.