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…