Monika Navarro’s LOST SOULS, about her troubled family, airing on PBS in March – LOST SOULS (ANIMAS PERDIDAS) TELLS THE STORY OF A LATINA FILMMAKER’S TROUBLED FAMILY, TORN APART BY BORDERS BOTH PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL

Filmmaker Monika Navarro was 21 years old when she began making a film about her uncle Gino, who was deported from the U.S. and died in Tijuana, where he was buried in an unmarked grave.  Two months later, her uncle Augie was also deported; both had been legal U.S. residents, military veterans — and drug addicts.  As filming progresses, Navarro uncovers a family history that embodies the best and worst of the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico.  But, as she says early in the film, “I found myself also telling a different story — about the kind of exile that has nothing to do with the government.” A universal story about the powerful bonds that hold families together through disappointments and broken promises, LOST SOULS will premiere on the Emmy® Award–winning PBS series Independent Lens on Tuesday, March 23^rd at 10 PM (check local listings).

LOST SOULS moves from idyllic Southern California, where the filmmaker’s Mexican-American family has lived for more than four decades, to Mexico, piecing together the tragic events that lead to her uncles’ deportations. Her camera in tow, Navarro interviews her mother, uncles and cousins and opens a Pandora’s box of family secrets.  Raised by a single mother, she reconnects with her absent father and slowly pieces together an epic story about an immigrant family with a dark history of abuse, addiction and abandonment as well as achievement and strength. Compelling and honest, LOST SOULS introduces viewers to a remarkable family, willing to confront the secrets of its past and find ways to accept, forgive and forge ahead.

To learn more about the film, and the issues involved, visit the companion website for LOST SOULS (Animas Perdidas) at www.pbs.org/independentlens/lost-souls. Get detailed information on the film, watch preview clips, read an interview with the filmmaker, and explore the subject in depth with links and resources. The site also features a Talkback section where viewers can share their ideas and opinions.

LOST SOULS (Animas Perdidas) will be available for purchase from PBS Home Video.

About the Filmmaker

MONIKA NAVARRO (Director/Producer/Co-Writer)

LOST SOULS (Animas Perdidas) is Monika Navarro’s first documentary film, which received support from the LEF Moving Image Fund, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture and the City of Ventura Humanities Council. Monika produced LOST SOULS as a WGBH Filmmaker-in-Residence, and has screened the film at several festivals nationally, including the Boyle Heights Latina Film Festival where she was awarded Best Director.  Monika is a first-generation Mexican-American and was raised in Southern California.  By telling her family’s story, Navarro aims to humanize and put a face on immigration policy issues.

Monika was the Festival Director for the 2005 “Do It Your Damn Self!!” National Youth Video and Film Festival. She received her BFA in Studio Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University, and currently lives in Boston.

About Independent Lens

Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award–winning weekly series airing on PBS. The acclaimed anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers. Independent Lens features unforgettable stories about unique individuals, communities and moments in history. Presented by ITVS, the series is supported by interactive companion websites and national publicity and community engagement campaigns. Independent Lens is jointly curated by ITVS and PBS and is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding provided by PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts. The series producer is Lois Vossen.

Leave a Reply