On April 14, the Religion, Race & Democracy Lab hosted a conversation with filmmakers Ángeles Cruz and Federico Cuatlacuatl, whose work casts a lens on indigeneity, sexuality, immigration, and cultural sustainability. Cruz, an award-winning actress, director, and screenwriter will discuss her new feature Nudo Mixteco (2021), set in San Mateo, the Mixtec village in Oaxaca, Mexico where she grew up. The story revolves around three individuals whose lives intersect during the village’s patron saint festivities. Cuatlacuatl, Assistant Professor of Studio Art at the University of Virginia, will share work that stems from his experience growing up as an undocumented immigrant, previously holding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). His multidisciplinary creative practice centers on the intersectionality of indigeneity and immigration under a pressing Anthropocene, transborder indigeneity, and migrant indigenous futurisms.

This event was organized and moderated by Jessica Marroquín, ACLS Emerging Voices Fellow at the University of Chicago.

Click here for more about the speakers and additional resources.