Student film challenges notions of cultural identity

Sophomore Wendy Medina Herrera, a Chapman film production and self-designed Latinx double major, created “Oportunidad,” a short film that replicates her dual Mexican and American identity. Photos courtesy of Herrera

Raised by two immigrant parents, Chapman film production and self-designed Latinx double major Wendy Medina Herrera was inspired by her father to educate people around the world on immigration. Through her short film, “Oportunidad,” she hopes to touch hearts and remind everyone of the human elements within immigration issues.

“Oportunidad” is based on her father’s real life experience. It depicts a 17-year-old boy, played by Herrera’s boyfriend, who was struggling to make ends meet in his home city of Sinaloa, Mexico. He emigrated to the United States searching for financial stability. 

“My parents had to learn to assimilate and it was a little hard,” Herrera said. “But immigrants tend to migrate where there are other immigrants, so my dad was able to get a job as a construction worker through connections in the community. My mom stayed home because it was a custom for women to do that.”

Herrera shot the film herself, using her own camera and computer to edit. Originally, she created it as a part of her application to the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, wanting to make the film as personal as possible to show the admissions board who she is and where she comes from.

“A project that I was passionate about was going to come out better in the end,” Herrera said of her application. “I named the film after the Spanish word for ‘opportunity,’ because immigrants call America ‘the land of opportunity.’”

Her father has crossed the border a few times, but refuses to describe his experiences in detail to his daughter. Herrera assumes he doesn’t reminisce about the experiences out of fear of reliving the trauma.

“He hasn’t told me about it in detail,” Herrera said. “But he did tell me about this one time his group had to leave an overweight man behind, because he was slowing them down.”

Since Herrera’s adolescence, she has also navigated the complexities of being multicultural. As a Mexican American woman growing up in the U.S., she’s at times experienced an identity crisis. People around her viewed her as “too Mexican to be American” and “too American to be Mexican,” Herrera said.

“It was a weird zone and a gray area,” she said. “It took me until high school for me to realize that I am a blend of these two cultures.”

Herrera said the controversy that surrounds immigration in the U.S. stems from fear.

“The U.S. fears the ‘other,’ Herrera said. “They fear immigrants taking jobs, vilifying them as criminals, rapists and drug dealers, when in reality, immigrants are fleeing from violence or current situations that aren't good in their home countries.”

Herrera’s film not only tells her father’s story, but other Latinx immigrants who have endured similar experiences, she said. Herrera emphasized the importance of non-BIPOC people watching her film, so it can provide them a different perspective they might not otherwise see.

“People can be blinded by privileges they don’t always know they have, so it's important to understand other people,” Herrera said. “I want people to know that there are people who are crossing the border and the story doesn’t always end happily. People are dying. It's not an immigration issue; it's a humanitarian issue.”