The fight for immigrant’s rights has been all too long and full of roadblocks, but despite the massive attacks that we are currently facing, it continues, gaining strength and wisdom from our stories. Filmmaker Mario Contreras documents the struggle through the lens of his family and explores the power of names, both in his family and as they relate to the movement. With the voices of activists including Ere Rendon, Rudy Lozano, Gabe Gonzalez, Miriam Martinez, Karla Martinez, Mario and Graciela Contreras, and Las Cafeteras (Hector Flores, Denise Carlos, Jose Cano, David Flores).
From Mario Contreras:
“I started collecting footage for My Father’s Knee about 13 years ago but it just started coming together a few years ago. The story traces over my Father’s story as a Mexican immigrant to mine as a Chicano in the suburbs of Chicago. My journey of self-discovery is a distorted echo of how he integrated into life in the Midwest.
The pilot episode of My Father’s Knee was developed under a Kartemquin Films program called Diverse Voices in Docs and released online by Sixty Inches from Center. These two chapters of the story establish where my family settled after leaving El Paso, Texas and where our names came from. I also recall my first exposures to the immigrant rights struggle and some of the inspiring people that I’ve met along the way.”