We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrés Lira. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrés below.

Andrés, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

During my final year at CSU, Sacramento, I was taking a film production course and had the opportunity to create a documentary for my thesis project. Only a few of students were allowed to direct a film and at the time the pandemic had begun forcing everyone to study remotely. Farmworkers were one of the few essential workers who remained on site when many people were working from home so I decided to make a film on the farmworking community. I spent months documenting the variety of jobs they do and interviewed them on their experiences immigrating to the U.S. I shot and edited everything myself to create an encapsulation on the realities that come with being undocumented as an essential worker. After finishing the film and presenting it to my class, I was encouraged by my professor to submit it to film festivals. It has gone on to screen and win awards at many prestigious festivals and has really helped establish myself as an emerging filmmaker. I come from a family of farmworkers and also worked in the fields during summers so it meant that much more to be able to amplify the voices of my community.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a Mexican-American film director. I come from a family of farmworkers in the Central Valley and got into filmmaking in college after making a short documentary about migrant farmworkers for my thesis project. My work focuses on amplifying the underrepresented stories of Latino and Indigenous communities through the exploration of identity, culture, and social justice. I take pride in continuing to tell authentic stories from our perspective that are often left out of the film industry.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The pandemic had just started when I was making my film and it had prevented me from collaborating with other classmates since everyone was forced to move back home. My professor was very skeptical of letting me create a film by myself for good reason because it meant I had to film, record sound, and edit everything with no assistance. Although I was able to create a version of the film for the class in a few months, I continued working on the project and spent roughly two years finalizing it. Being that it was my first film and having no grants, producers, or previous experience with making a film, it really has taken me to many places and opened up many doors for me.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to continue making films that center my community and further the contribution of Indigenous and Latino stories in the film industry.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @lirandres
• Linkedin: Andrés Lira

Image Credits

LALIFF, LA Shorts, Andrés Lira