What We Leave Behind (film)

What We Leave Behind
Directed byIliana Sosa
Written byIliana Sosa
Isidore Bethel
Produced byEmma D. Miller
Iliana Sosa
Isidore Bethel (co-producer)
CinematographyJudy Phu
Monica Wise Robles
Iliana Sosa
Edited byIsidore Bethel
Production
companies
Borderchild Productions
Marcona Media
Distributed byARRAY
Netflix
Release date
  • March 11, 2022 (2022-03-11) (SXSW)
[1]
Running time
71 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Mexico
LanguageSpanish

What We Leave Behind is a 2022 documentary film directed by Iliana Sosa. The film is a portrait of Sosa's grandfather, Julián Moreno, as he starts building a house in the Mexican state of Durango. As a younger man, Julián had spent decades living between the United States and Mexico, first working as a bracero and later traveling by bus to visit his children and grandchildren in the Southwestern United States. In the film, Julián revisits this past with his granddaughter as the two forge a tighter bond together.[2] Voiceovers from the director punctuate the film and pair with imagery of the local landscape; the soundtrack features an a cappella song by the Cardencheros de Sapioriz, who are also from Durango.[3]

The film received development, production, and post-production support from several institutions, including the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, the Sundance Institute, the IDA, the Austin Film Society, the True/False & Catapult Rough Cut Retreat, the Jacob Burns Film Center, the Gotham Documentary Lab, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Ji.hlava New Visions Forum.[4]

  1. ^ "What We Leave Behind". SXSW. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  2. ^ "Iliana Sosa's 'What We Leave Behind' authentically captures grandfather Julián Moreno, steals audience's heart at SXSW". The Daily Texan. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  3. ^ "A Personal Portrait of Life: Interview with WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND Director Iliana Sosa". Film Chisme. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  4. ^ "WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND Press Notes" (PDF). What We Leave Behind. Retrieved October 26, 2022.