Why Cybraceros?

Why Cybraceros is a short film based on (and incorporating footage from) a real 1940s US government film that promoted a migrant labor program — remade with a whimsical, creative twist by experimental filmmaker Alex Rivera.

Series
Independent Lens
Premiere Date
March 25, 2003
Length
5 minutes
Producer

Alex Rivera

Alex Rivera is a filmmaker who has been telling new, urgent, and visually adventurous Latino stories for more than fifteen years. His first feature film, Sleep Dealer, a science-fiction feature set on the U.S./Mexico border, won multiple awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, was screened as part of New… Show more Directors/New Films at the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center, and had a commercial release in the U.S., France, Japan, and around the world. Rivera is a Sundance Fellow, Rockefeller Fellow, USA Artist Fellow, Creative Capital grantee, and was named one of Variety Magazine’s “10 Directors to Watch.” His recent collaborations have included work with Manu Chao, Maria Hinojosa and La Santa Cecilia. Rivera studied at Hampshire College and lives in Los Angeles. Show less

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The Film

In the not so distant future the Mexican/American border has been sealed shut, as U.S. companies turn to Internet technology that allows migrant laborers to work from home. Why Cybraceros? is a five-minute satire based on (and incorporating footage from) a real 1940s U.S. government film that promoted the "Braceros" labor program and remade with a whimsical, creative twist by experimental filmmaker Alex Rivera.

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