The short life of José Antonio Gutierrez
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The short life of José Antonio Gutierrez |
| Country of production | Germany , Switzerland |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 2006 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Heidi Specogna |
| script | Heidi Specogna , Erika Harzer |
| production | Gerd Haag |
| music | Hans Koch |
| camera | Rainer Hoffmann , Thomas Keller |
| cut | Ursula Höf |
| occupation | |
| |
The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez is a documentary by Heidi Specogna about one of the first soldiers to die for the USA in the 2003 Iraq War .
Gutierrez was from Guatemala and only received US citizenship posthumously. He fought as a "green card soldier". Of the 300,000 soldiers in the coalition of the willing , around 32,000 were “green card soldiers”. Gutierrez died in the friendly fire .
The short life of José Antonio Gutierrez is a precise and haunting film. He tells Gutierrez 'childhood through interviews with those who knew him. Gutierrez grew up a street child, like many children who had lost their parents in the civil war . The film is a reminder that the CIA was actively involved in this war. Gutierrez finally found refuge in an orphanage and after a long search found his sister again.
When he grew up, he decided to emigrate to the USA because he wanted to become an architect and saw no chance of making this dream come true in his home country. He was a talented draftsman. The film follows its route from Guatemala to Mexico, where migrants recharge their batteries in a hostel in Chiapas for their onward journey. He accompanies young women who, like Gutierrez, jump on freight trains to the USA, even though they know about the risks of the journey (accident, robbery, rape or even murder).
It was only the third time that he managed to immigrate to the United States across the Mexican border. There he could go to high school because he looked younger than he was. He was considered a minor and could therefore not be deported. He received the green card .
After high school, he joined the Marines . This surprised some of his acquaintances, as he had refused to speak English and was proud to be Guatemalan. It seems that he decided to risk his life for a country that he did not see as his own because that was the only way he could achieve his career aspiration.
After his death, his sister was personally informed of this by the US ambassador in Antigua. The US granted him a state funeral and his sister was granted a US visa, which she accepted.
Although the film on Gutierrez and Guatemala he can focus as some other recent movies (eg. As Darwin's Nightmare ) as an allegory on globalization to be seen.
Awards and nominations
- 2006 Sundance Film Festival nomination in the documentary category .
- In 2007 the film won the Swiss Film Prize in the Best Documentary Film category .
- In 2007 the editor of the film, Ursula Höf , was nominated for the Documentary Editing Prize at the Filmplus Festival .
- In 2008 the film received the Grimme Prize in the "Information & Culture" category
Web links
- The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The short life of José Antonio Gutierrez at Filmportal.de
- The film on tagtraum.de
- The film on kinomorgen.de
- The movie on Google Video
- Hispanic / Latinos in the Afghanistan and Iraq War 2002-06
- Official website