VOCES

Indie Films Series / 2 Seasons

Produced by Latino Public Broadcasting, the acclaimed PBS documentary series VOCES features the best of Latino arts, culture and history and shines a light on current issues that impact Latino Americans. Devoted to exploring the rich diversity of the Latino experience, VOCES presents new and established filmmakers and brings their powerful and illuminating stories to a national audience.

14m 10s

Meet the Band

12m 17s

Meet the members of the Mambo Legends Orchestra including Mitch Frohman and Carmen Laboy. The band provides a link to the golden era when the Machito Orchestra fused the big-band sound of popular music with the rhythms of Africa, Cuba, and Puerto Rico to create an enduring musical genre beloved around the world.

Behind the Scenes with the Band

6m 57s

Go behind the scenes with the Mambo Legends Orchestra who committed to keeping the sounds of the great Afro-Cuban bandleaders Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez alive for future generations.

Chapter 1

9m 5s

Meet Luis Cortes Romero, an immigration lawyer who is fighting to protect DACA. Growing up as an undocumented immigrant, Luis learned from an early age about the restrictions of not having American citizenship. While Luis was able to carve a successful path for himself, he often reflects on the time he lost getting to know his grandparents who were unable to join him and his family in the U.S.

Sabor Ártico: Latinos En Alaska Extended Trailer

1m

Latinos face unique challenges in the Arctic environment where things can be extreme, remote, and sometimes inaccessible. “Sabor Ártico: Latinos En Alaska,” a short documentary, introduces viewers to a growing population of Latinos in Alaska through poignant interviews that give insight on the importance of food and culture in adapting to the Arctic environment and in forging their identity.

When It's Good, It's Good Extended Trailer

1m

A filmmaker returns to her hometown in West Texas to document the effects of the boom-and-bust nature of the oil industry. An intimate portrait of family, memory, and economy, “When It’s Good, It’s Good” centers around life in an oil town called Denver City, Texas.

Sentir el Son Extended Trailer

1m

Sentir el Son is a poetic documentary short about an Afro-Mexican woman in search of her ethnic and gender identity through the West African and Afro-Mexican practices in music and dance. This is a heroine's journey about the struggle of ethnic invisibility and the hidden African Diaspora in Mexico.

The Kill Floor Trailer

1m

The Kill Floor, by Carlos Avila, is a narrative film inspired by the true-life situation that many Latino meat industry workers found themselves in during the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic. Forced to choose between making a living by working in unsafe conditions or to go without income, many workers were forced to choose between their livelihoods and their lives.

VOCES Shorts Extended Preview

1m 40s

Curated by Latino Public Broadcasting and showcasing the work of both emerging and established Latinx filmmakers, this anthology of narrative and nonfiction work explores issues such as identity, economy, arts, and community. VOCES Shorts offers four up-to-the-minute snapshots of the diversity and complexity of Latino life in America today.

Veteran Self-Deports to Mexico to Live in Exile

2m 28s

While Manuel Valenzuela heads east to Washington D.C., his brother Valente Valenzuela heads south to Chihuahua, Mexico to self-deport and live in exile. Valente shares the emotional turmoil he has faced since receiving his removal notice — including his suicidal thoughts. “This is not what America is supposed to be,” Valente says. He tosses his war medals into the Rio Grande in disappointment.

A Fallen Veteran’s Family Faces Deportation

4m 51s

Ashley Sietsema was 20 years old when she was deployed to Kuwait. Her mother, Olivia Segura, recalls receiving the news her daughter died. Amid grief, her husband was caught drinking and driving and has been scheduled for deportation. Segura says she fights for the rights of fallen veterans’ families because her family's pain is a result of the sacrifice her daughter made for this country.

Disabled Veteran to be Deported Back to Pakistan

1m 13s

Zahid Chaudry joined the military after coming to the U.S. from Pakistan on a tourist visa. He was trampled in bootcamp training and is now in a wheelchair. His citizenship request is denied for failing to disclose misdemeanors from his time in Australia and a documentation mishap while volunteering at his local police department. His wife Anne is crushed when his deportation order moves forward.

Two Veteran Brothers Become Unlikely Activists

3m 33s

When Manuel Valenzuela finds out his brother also receives a letter of deportation, he is shocked and says, “Join the club, brother.” Both had minor offenses on their record, which landed them in deportation court decades later. They decide to fight together and hit the local newscast to share their story and start a movement to stop the deportation of fellow veterans.

A Vietnam Veteran’s Mission to the White House

2m 28s

When Manuel Valenzuela went to Vietnam with the U.S. Marine Corps in 1971, he was 19 years old. He wears his uniform proudly to attend an event in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he announces his trip to Washington to deliver a letter requesting the president takes action to stop the deportation of veterans.

Trailer | American Exile

30s

Brothers Manuel and Valente Valenzuela both volunteered and fought in Vietnam. Fifty years later they are among thousands of veterans who are being deported. The brothers don their uniforms for one last fight, to bring all the veterans back home.

Cuba Censors José Lezama Lima

7m 3s

"Paradiso" marked José Lezama Lima as a writer too independent to be trusted by a government that required full compliance. Cuba censored his work as a result of the novel and suspicions that he was gay. Despite being forbidden in his own country, the novel was translated and revered worldwide. The poet grew hopeless as attempts to travel abroad were thwarted by denied exit visas.

'Paradiso' Stirs Scandal Amid Glory Upon Release

5m 30s

Poet José Lezama Lima published his long-awaited novel "Paradiso" in 1966, revealing with it scenes that mirrored his own life and secrets he kept for decades. The novel was considered an exaltation of family as the center of human life. In the same way, it was considered an unprecedented invitation to think about being human in an erotic way, making it a source of scandal upon publication.

Trailer | Letters to Eloisa

30s

Based on correspondence with his sister in exile, "Letters to Eloisa" recounts the life of Cuban literary great José Lezama Lima, author of a homoerotic novel, "Paradiso," and tells the story of his silencing by the Cuban revolutionary government.

Trailer | Dr. Gabriel Salguero | Latino Vote

30s / TV-PG

Get an inside look at the high-stakes effort to turn out the Latino vote in this year’s election. Hear from Dr. Gabriel Salguero, founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

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