INTERVIEW: 25 years later, filmmaker returns to ‘Oaxacalifornia’
Photo: Oaxacalifornia: The Return is a followup documentary on the Mejía family. Photo courtesy of Cinema Tropical / Provided with permission.
In the mid-1990s, director Trisha Ziff documented the triumphs and struggles of one Mexican-American family, and the resulting film, Oaxacalifornia, effectively put a human face on the debated issue of immigration and the unique relationship between the United States and Mexico. Now, in 2021, Ziff is back with a followup more than a quarter of a century later.
Oaxacalifornia: The Return, which recently had its premiere at the New York Latino Film Festival, follows the Mejía family, returning to voices that were first documented in the 1990s and welcoming new additions to the three generations of this bicultural family. At its heart, the documentary is a portrait of relatives across multiple generations and multiple locations — an intimate exploration of identity and love.
The film without too many delays or problems, but the COVID-19 pandemic did back up the post-production process.
“It was a big challenge,” Ziff said in a recent phone interview. “We finished shooting before COVID began, so we’d already met. I had already begun the edit with my editor in February, and then COVID really hit in March [2020]. And so we were in post-production. My editor, even though he lives really near me and was isolating, his partner is a doctor in a public hospital here in Mexico, so we couldn’t risk meeting because he was already high risk. At that time, of course, there was no vaccine, so everything was edited and we finished the film completely virtual — the music, everything. That was a challenge. I wondered to myself how different the film would have actually been if we’d been sitting together in the same room like we’ve done on previous films because we’ve worked together a lot.”
Over the years since the first documentary, Ziff had kept in touch with the Mejía family. She would check in after big life events, like weddings, births and funerals. Every Christmas she would receive a call from the family, and on her birthday, they would call again and sing to her. This occurred for more than 20 years, so the connection was never lost.
“And then when Facebook and all those things began, it was easier to keep in touch in a more general way,” she said. “It wasn’t until four or five years ago, I was with the cinematographer Seamus McGarvey in New York. We’ve remained very close friends, and he was just out of film school when he made Oaxacalifornia with us. And now he’s a major cinematographer, and it was really Seamus who said, ‘Why not go back and film the Mejías again today?’ And he had made films with the British director Michael Apted, and Apted was very famous for this series of documentaries called 7 Up. And Seamus had worked with Apted. I only met him once. He died last year while we were in post-production. We dedicate the film to him, but it was Seamus who thought it was a good idea. That made me go back to the family and talk to them.”
Ziff, whose other films include Chevolution and The Mexican Suitcase, decided to forego a phone call or Facebook message and instead visited the Mejía family in person to see if they were interested in a cinematic update on their story. At first, they were skeptical of the new project. In the 1990s, they were excited by the idea, but there was more hesitancy this time around.
“Now we had another generation of their children who had grown up in the United States with a much more sophisticated relationship to the role of media, and they were quite skeptical,” the filmmaker said. “And it was only when I showed the family the first film — they hadn’t watched it for years — with the grandchildren who had never seen it, and they saw the reaction of their own children to watching the film. It convinced them that this was something very special to do because it was like giving a gift to the next generation, who would be able to show it then to their children. It was nothing I ever said that convinced them to do it.”
For Ziff, it was important to tell this story for a great number of reasons. Her cinematographer certainly convinced her, and the family seemed willing after their initial hesitation. Then the news of Donald Trump’s candidacy swept the headlines, and the filmmaker knew this documentary was needed.
“For me, the motive behind making the film really was 2015, and it was the horrendous comments about Mexicans made by Donald Trump,” she said. “And I wondered how the Mejías feel about being described like that. They’re very proud of their Mexican identity, so I think it was that moment that really changed things and motivated me to go through that journey of raising the money to make the film.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Oaxacalifornia: The Return, directed by Trisha Ziff, is now playing film festivals. Click here for more information.
