OBPC 2019: A Portrait of Berenice Sarmiento Chávez by Hugo Crosthwaite

Set to the soundtrack of a dissonant guitar and a
raspy voice singing in Spanish, this animated video
reveals the dreams and experiences of a young
woman from Tijuana who seeks to take part in the
American Dream. Black ink, gray wash, and white
paint—applied by the invisible hand of the artist—
take turns to expose Berenice Sarmiento Chávez’s
humble background and the threat of violence in
her home country that pushed her to immigrate
to the United States. The film suggests that the
immigration journey is seeded with constant danger,
especially for women and children.
This video is part of a series based on artist Hugo
Crosthwaite’s interviews with people who are living
in or are passing through Tijuana. The resultant
improvised drawings represent the collective
memories and oral histories from that part of the
Mexico-U.S. border