The filmmakers
Note from the Filmmakers:
Our names are Noemi, Heriberto, Esmirna, and Esmeralda, and we are the co-directors of the film FIRST TIME HOME. We are Indigenous Triqui second generation immigrants born in the United States. The four of us shot the footage ourselves, directing and shooting while we were in high school and travelling between California and Washington State to work the harvest with our parents. By joining us as we visit our "home" in Mexico for the first time, meet our relatives, and spend time with our elderly grandpa, we hope our film introduces you to the lives and realities of immigrants, farmworkers and Indigenous families like ours. We hope the film shows all of us how we are connected, including across borders.
co-Directors
Esmirna Librado
Esmirna is from California. She lives in Washington State, where she studies at the community college and is raising her two-year-old. She received the San Martin Indigenous Immigrant (SMI) scholarship and aspires to become a nurse.
Noemi Librado Sanchez
Noemi is from California and lives in Washington State, where she is a junior in high school. She enjoys playing softball and wrestling, and is interested in writing a graphic novel about her life. She looks forward to going to college and studying psychology.
Esmeralda Ventura
Esmeralda is from California, where she currently lives, but travels to Washington state every summer to work the blueberry harvest with her family. In her free time, she enjoys doing arts and crafts.
Heriberto Ventura
Heriberto is from Washington State. He now primarily lives in California but travels to Washington every summer to work the harvest with his parents. He enjoys traveling with his family.
Producer
Seth Holmes
Seth is from Washington State and lives in California. He is a cultural and medical anthropologist and physician who engages in ethnographic research, including participatory visual ethnography. He first started working with the co-directors’ families in research and health projects in 2002. Seth is a professor in the Division of Society and Environment and the Joint Program in Medical Anthropology at UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. He collaborates with the Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño including the coordination of the SMI Scholarship. He has an M.D. from the UC San Francisco School of Medicine and a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco.
co-producer
Miriam Magaña Lopez
Miriam is a first-generation immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico and lives in California. She works with vineyard workers in Sonoma Valley. Miriam is currently collaborating with the Othering & Belonging Institute and the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues at UC Berkeley. Miriam is also an immigrant activist and has worked on campaigns such as Drivers License for All in Minnesota, stopping police cooperation with ICE, and urging for legalization for all. Miriam has a BA in Anthropology from Macalester College and an MPH from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
creative consultant
Yolanda Cruz
Yolanda Cruz is an independent filmmaker from Mexico. She draws from the tradition of oral storytelling to create film narratives about art, immigration and indigenous cultures. Cruz’s honors include an Audience and Best Feature Documentary award from The National Geographic All Roads Film Project 2005, and The Expresión en Corto International Film Festival 2009 in Guanajuato, Mexico. She holds an MFA from the UCLA film school and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College. Cruz is also a Sundance Institute Fellow.
editor
Jesus Silva
Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Jesus Silva is a Los Angeles based documentary editor with a spectrum of work in the editing craft from Reality TV for major networks, commercials for leading brands, and award-winning, Emmy nominated documentaries. He is passionate about telling character-driven stories with a cinematic approach.
graphic designers
Tlacolulokos
The artist collective Tlacolulokos is made up of Dario Canul and Cosijoesa Cernas, both natives of Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico. The collective works in different graphic mediums, including: video, sound, graphic art and painting. Their work is a combination of different styles from street art, to murals and screen printing. Their works take place on the street and within traditional art spaces. Through their work, Tlacolulokos offers a reflection of local reality, and the problems and challenges of their place of origin.
Photo credit: Jeff McLane
Musicians
La Fama de Oaxaca
The music group, La Fama de Oaxaca, creates their own songs, remakes traditional music, and records their songs and videos in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. The majority of the group originates in the community of San Martín Itunyoso. The most important characteristic of the group is that their unique style comes from the traditional music of the state of Oaxaca.