Latina/o Film Series for UW Students Scheduled

A film depicting a 1954 mine strike in New Mexico kicks off the Latina/o Film Series Tuesday, Feb. 9, for University of Wyoming students.

“Salt of the Earth” will be at 7 p.m. in the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center. Vanessa Fonseca, assistant professor of Latina/o studies and English, and Scott Henkel, English assistant professor, will be the moderators. The UW Latina/o Studies Program sponsors the film series.

Four films will be shown this semester during the film series, which is open only to UW students.

Written by Michael Wilson, “Salt of the Earth” is an American drama and one of the first films to advance the feminist social and political point of view. The plot centers on the long and difficult 1951 strike against the Empire Zinc Company in Grant County, N.M.

The film shows how the miners, the company and the police react during the strike. In neorealist style, the film’s producers and director used actual miners and their families as actors in the production.

Other films scheduled are “Maria Full of Grace,” Thursday, March 31; “The Head of Joaquin Murrieta,” Friday, April 11; and “Quinceanera,” Friday, April 22. All screenings begin at 7 p.m.

For more information about the film series, contact Cecilia Aragon, UW Latina/o Studies Program director, at (307) 766-2164 or email ccaragon@uwyo.edu.