produced and directed by Cheryl Quintana Leader
USA, 2009, 27 Minute Running Time
The Coachella Valley’s notorious Duroville trailer park is home to many Purépecha, a Mesoamerican people with a proud and ancient history. This is the story of their struggle to maintain their community in the face of the government’s attempts to close the park down, and an owner who has let the park deteriorate to a dangerously unhealthy state.
The Purepecha, an indigenous Indian tribe of between 2,000 and 6,000 migrant farm working families (depending on the ‘picking season’), originating from Michoacan, Mexico, now reside and work in Coachella Valley, California and have been described by the Los Angeles Times as the “poorest of the poor.”
One hot summer day, a young Latina youth, Stephanie Maldonado, from a disadvantaged city neighborhood, sets out to discover that many who reside in Duroville, a dilapidated and broken down trailer park, are just minutes from one of the most wealthiest tourist destinations and provider of a billion dollar crop industry. It is here, despite inadequate living or working conditions, that the Purepecha still remain dutifully providing much of the harvesting of America’s fruits and vegetables.
More details available on the The Purepecha: Poorest of the Poor website.
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