Film Screening of EXODUS, with Director Bijoyini Chatterjee
About this Event
About the film
In late 2019 the only migrant shelter in Agua Prieta, Sonora is filling up with families from the Mexican state of Guerrero. Shelter director Adalberto Ramos (Betto) is appalled to see entire families with young children and babies coming to seek political asylum in the United States. In his 20+ years of sheltering and protecting migrants and refugees from all over the world, he has never seen families with children of all ages seeking protection at his shelter.
Betto and his team of binational migrant workers are horrified by stories of random killings, disappearances and forced displacement of entire villages, all without redress and all without a word from Mexican media.
Exodus weaves cinema-vérité footage with first-hand migrant testimonies, investigative trips to Guerrero, and interviews with historian Dr. Aviña and investigative journalist Dr. Paley as the film uncovers the unexpected global forces behind the extreme violence and humanitarian crisis. The documentary highlights the courage and resilience of shelter workers who refuse to be silenced and gives voice to the very people who are fleeing for their lives.
Our Panelists:
Bijoyini Chatterjee is an independent documentary filmmaker and co-founder of Onirica Productions.
Her first feature documentary was Flamenco Syndrome (2019) – about the deeply rooted gypsy folk music of Lower Andalucia (Spain). Flamenco Syndrome was screened at multiple theaters and venues across the US and Spain.
Her second feature documentary, Exodus (2025) examines what the War on Drugs in Mexico and its devastating consequences are really about, while offering hope in community and collective action.
Bijoyini, her partner Juan Carlos Barrera (co-producer of Exodus) and their daughter lived in the borderlands (Bisbee, Arizona) for 10 years, where they produced Exodus.
Adela Cedillo, PhD (University of Houston)
Adela Cedillo is an assistant professor of modern Mexican history. She earned her Ph.D. in Latin American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her M.A. and B.A. in Latin American studies and history from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Her research interests include revolutionary movements, counterinsurgency warfare, the war on drugs, human rights and female activism. Cedillo has published several book chapters and peer-reviewed articles on guerrilla organizations, anti-drug campaigns and forced disappearance in Mexico. She is the author of “El Fuego y El Silencio, Historia de las Fuerzas de Liberación Nacional Mexicanas (1969-1974)” and the co-editor of “Challenging Authoritarianism in Mexico: Revolutionary Struggles and the Dirty War, 1964-1982.”
Cedillo is currently working on a book project that examines the intersections between the dirty war and the first war on drugs during the 1970s in northwestern Mexico.
Exodus is a documentary film, highlighting the courage and resilience of shelter workers in the border city Agua Prieta, in Sonora Mexico. Using cinema-vérité footage with first-hand migrant testimonies, director Biyojini Chatterjee records investigative trips to Guerrero, Mexico and interviews with historian Dr. Aviña and investigative journalist Dr. Paley to show the unexpected global forces behind the extreme violence surrounding the migrant and refugee crisis in Guerrero.
WHEN: Tuesday. November 17th, 5:30PM - 8:00PM
WHERE: CEMO Hall Auditorium (CEMO 100D), 4246 Martin Luther King Blvd, Houston, TX 77204
Visitors coming from off campus are encouraged to park in either the Elgin Street Garage or the Stadium Garage.
1) Elgin Street Garage: 4224 Elgin Street
2) Stadium Garage: 3874 Holman Street
Where is it happening?
USD 0.00
