by Magdy Zara
Sansón and I, is an emotional documentary about a 19-year-old undocumented Mexican migrant, who is sentenced to life in prison without parole, and Rodrigo Reyes (filmmaker), who was the young man’s translator during the trial and remains deeply moved by the events, they become friends and then he decides to record a film to publicize his story, since according to what he says “it is a reality that is still valid”.
Reyes, who is the director of this masterful film production, states that he had no way of knowing more details about the case and the history of Sansón, since he did not have access to his records or files, which is why they begin to exchange cards.
After more than seven years writing to each other and more than a thousand letters, he decides to tell his story; For this, he travels to Sansón’s hometown, listens to testimonies of his life, meets his family, who help him with the making of the film, even collaborated as natural actors, which makes the production much more real. . His nephew Toñito plays the child Sansón and his sister Débora plays his mother.
Regarding the documentary, the director explains that it mixes a bit of fiction with harsh reality, “10 years ago I was working for a California court and they assigned me a homicide case, in which a 19-year-old Mexican was involved, who for three weeks I was practically speaking in his ear, after his sentence, I could not be calm and I wanted to know more about him”, there began what would later be a beautiful friendship.
“This film”, – he continues saying- “is the portrait of our friendship, what makes me the happiest. It is that my friend Sansón, being at the bottom, in the darkest, was able to get out of the cell, raise his voice and make themselves known”, says the filmmaker.
He says that what motivated him to publicize the story of Sansón is that “there are thousands of Sansóns who are forgotten and condemned in the prisons of the United States, and the worst thing is that the problems that these young people face in their countries of origin and when crossing the border they are still valid, they are still there and they are repeated day after day.”
When asked what he was looking for by showing this painful reality, Reyes responded by saying “I want us to accompany our migrant brothers, to be in solidarity with them, to raise awareness, to open our hearts to the thousands of Sansóns who are in prison, to be empathetic with the young people for whom the American dream has turned into a horrible nightmare.”
Rodrigo Reyes, who is also Mexican, has produced several documentaries on the subject of migration.
Sansón and I, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Independent Film Festival in New York; in Mexico at the Morelia Film Festival and in San Francisco it was presented on Saturday, March 18 at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco.
