LA COSECHA

Samuel Díaz Fernández - USA - 13’ - documentary

Nolvia Castillo immigrated to the United States from a small village in Chiriqui, Guatemala, where she remembers eating fresh fruits and vegetables. In her new home of Austin, Texas, Nolvia finds her independence through learning how to drive and delivering produce to her neighbors as part of a food distribution program by local nonprofits Go Austin/Vamos Austin and Urban Roots Farm. As filmmaker Ai Vuong rides along with Nolvia, she also reflects on the significance of past meals with her parents. Together through food, they navigate the roads of their shared immigrant experience: that which we had, and thus hold on to, and that of what we create for the future.

Samuel Diáz Fernández

Samuel is a Colombian-born filmmaker, educator, and the co-founder of TÁPI Story and the School of Slow Media. He was named a National Geographic Explorer in 2022 for his upcoming short doc on Thermal Inequities and Community perceptions of Heat in Austin, TX. The first of his Austin trilogy—an asian-latinx immigrant meditation on the meaning of food titled ”La Cosecha”—premiered at SXSW in 2023. In 2021, he received a Silver Telly for directing “Remember Love”, a short doc on the memories of children orphaned by the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. His films have also shown at CineFestival, Austin Asian American Film Festival and the Cambodia International Film Festival.