A FAMILY OF MEXICAN AMERICANS POLITICALLY FACE OFF DURING THANKSGIVING IN ESTILO AMERICANO

REVIEW:

Exhibiting now on the Los Cortos website, Estilo Americano, a new film by director Miriam Kruishoop and executive produced by Ellen Utrecht and Joyce Fitzpatrick, literally means American by design or American designed. This 20 minute short packs a punch. It is a parable of a Mexican American family trying to address their respective principles and identity in this highly charged climate of political chess, which we all find ourselves in. Set at the proverbial Thanksgiving table, though parents Elena and Joaquim are Jehovah’s witnesses, it’s the time of year to bring family home across America where they can share a bountiful meal and reconnect with one another. Religion has little to do with the ultimate American cultural event of the year.

Sounds great, right? Not so much… If there is one dangerous dynamic, you can count on surfacing on the holiday in which Americans commemorate Native Americans reaching out to help Europeans learn how to plant and harvest when millions of dinner tables are filled with pumpkin pie and loved ones, it is politics. Politics are often an expression of the fundamental nature of what we cherish and despise. Since family is not chosen and provided from birth, it is the frontline where patience can be the greatest virtue in short supply.

Estilo Americano opens with a Ford truck in the driveway and an American flag blowing in the wind. Still, as we go inside, successful daughter Bianca is a minority of one as she decries her “America first” Trumpian opinions and is met with extensive pushback from her siblings. While her brother Raul talks about the contributions of Mexican Americans to the United States military, including soldiering in war without reward for his country, another, Miguel decries the abuse of power by the rich and the heinous exploitation and imprisonment of Mexicans seeking asylum in the USA, only to be caged for trying to leave an anguished life of poverty and violence. Secrets are revealed in this forceful 20-minute short film in which preconceptions are challenged, and truths are revealed.