by Nick Sestanovich, Santa Cruz Sentinel
WATSONVILLE — On Sept. 19, Rodrigo Reyes’ documentary “Sansón and Me” will make its television premiere on PBS’ “Independent Lens,” having already been screened at many national and international film festivals.
Watsonville residents will not have to wait that long, as the Watsonville Film Festival will be hosting a free screening at CineLux Green Valley Cinema Saturday, with the director, one of the actors and family members of the documentary’s subjects in attendance.
The film was actually scheduled to make its regional premiere at the festival March 11, but the breech of the Pajaro River levee earlier that morning and subsequent flooding resulted in it being postponed. Consuelo Alba, the festival’s executive director, said staff arranged to have it shown locally.
“We’re very excited to be able to do it at CineLux this time,” she said. “It’s the first time we’ve worked with them. We’ve presented films at the Green Valley Cinemas before, but this is the first time that we’re collaborating with CineLux, and we’re very grateful for the opportunity to present this film at a movie theater.”
“Sansón and Me” tells the story of Sansón Noe Andrade, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who came to California and ended up being the driver in a drive-by gang shooting, resulting in him being charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life in Pelican Bay State Prison without parole.
His interpreter during his trial was Reyes, then working a day job as a court interpreter in Merced County who became well-acquainted with his client’s story. Born in Mexico City, Reyes would go on to direct several documentaries touching upon themes of Latine social justice, including “Purgatorio: A Journey into the Heart of the Border,” “Lupe Under the Sun” and the award-winning “499.” After becoming engrossed in Andrade’s story and the unhappy life he lived, Reyes sought to make a movie about him. However, being denied permission by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to interview him on camera at the prison meant Reyes had to tell his story through other means.
Andrade corresponded with Reyes through letters and used actors to reenact scenes from Andrade’s childhood.
“This film is very sobering and talks about immigration and the system in the U.S. and (Andrade’s) personal life,” said Alba. “It’s a very personal film talking about big things.”
“Sansón and Me” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in 2022 and also won the Best Film award at the Sheffield DocFest, the top documentary film festival in the United Kingdom.
“This film has had a great trajectory,” said Alba. “It has been in major film festivals and many festivals in the U.S., in Mexico and many different universities, and we’re very excited because this is a community screening.”
The screening will be attended by Reyes, who will host a Q&A at the end of the movie. Also in attendance will be Watsonville-based actor Mario Velasquez, who portrays Isaac in the movie, and members of Andrade’s family, many of whom reside in Watsonville where Andrade lived and worked for a brief period.
“It is very special and meaningful to screen ‘Sansón and Me’ in Watsonville, a beautiful community that is rooted in the Latino immigrant experience,” Reyes said in a statement. “When he was young, Sansón himself lived and worked in the area for a brief time, and so it feels like his story is coming home. I could have made a lot of stories about incarceration and immigration, but the fact is that Sansón is my friend. I love and respect him and I don’t want his story to be erased because of his race, his class or his language. This film is my contribution to his resistance, and I hope that his struggle rings true for the community of Watsonville, who understands first- hand the impact of the prison system on our Latino young men.”
Among other things, Alba said the film examines the relationship between race and incarceration, which might be a topic of discussion at the screening.
“A lot of Black and brown people are in jail,” she said. “We want to talk about
the reasons and the systems that are in place that make that possible, how to address that, how to talk about that in the community.”
Alba said the film will also put a human face to inmates, as they are often largely just viewed by the public as statistics.
“We just hear numbers,” she said. “‘This many people are in prison.‘ ‘This many people are in jail.’ I’m hoping that ... people see the people as human beings being incarcerated and the reasons why they get there and how, as a society, we can do better.”
“Sansón and Me” will be screened at 6 p.m. Saturday at CineLux Green Valley, 1125 S. Green Valley Road. Tickets are free, but people must register in advance at EventBrite.com. As a very limited number of tickets are currently available, people can email [removed] to request to be placed on a waiting list. Ticketholders are urged to arrive at least 15 minutes before the screening, or their seats will be given to those on the waiting list. Donations to support the Watsonville Film Festival at the event are encouraged.