Guatemala

El Norte: the ultimate immigrant story

Title: El Norte
Released: 1983
Director:: Gregory Nava

Plot Summary

There's a reason your teacher made you watch El Norte in your high school Spanish class: it's a good movie with a thoughtful message. The movie opens in a small village in Guatemala in the early 80s, a time of government oppression, disappearances and torture which started a civil war that wasn't resolved until the early 90s.

After a massacre in their village, siblings Rosa and Enrique decided to flee to the US, el norte, a place they imagine to be as incredible as tv programs and the stories they've heard growing up portray. Their trip is dangerous, and their new life in America isn't quite as they imagined.

Bikes in Front of a Church in Antigua, Guatemala

Bikes in Front of a Church in Antigua, Guatemala

We came across this church outside of Antigua, Guatemala on a bike tour to a coffee plantation. The whole picture includes the accents of a typical gothic-style church, but I like this section of the photo, with the fading of the colorful paint and typical streetscape.

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