My mother once shared with me that in the search for a better life at the age of eighteen she had to cross the hot and desolate desert to come to the United States. She said it was one of the most difficult and traumatizing journeys she ever had to make in her fifty-seventh year of life. A Coyote, a human smuggler, guided her and other undocumented immigrants for four days and five nights. On the fourth day, she was still conscious, but unable to move her legs due to extreme leg cramps. She was fortunate that one of the other undocumented immigrants helped carry her all the way to the end. My mother was brave and strong, but most importantly, she was lucky to have survived such a journey. The genesis of this short film, "La Ramona" traces back to my mother’s journey. Ramona experienced a very similar journey, but under very different circumstances.  

According to the U.S. State Department, police departments across the United States spend 22 times more time fighting drugs than human trafficking, despite the fact that 18,000 girls and women are trafficked into the U.S. every year. Ramona was sold by her own father to a Coyote, who will then transport her to his sexual trafficking liaison in the United States. I wanted to write a story through the point of view of a sixteen-year-old girl and show the audience a glimpse of what it must be like for these young girls and women as they are forced to face much adversity simply to stay alive. Although my story was inspired by true events, my goal was to stay true to my characters and not allow a message (human trafficking) to be the main focus of the story’s development.  

I am truly humbled and honored the opportunity to work with the talented, international award winner, Gerardo Taracena and the up-and-coming actress Gabriela Cartol. It was important for me to cast serious actors who would convey the rawness of the characters in my story. I could not be happier with the results. 

Jesse Aragon, the cinematographer, and I had many conversations about how we were going to tackle this story. After much debate, we came to the conclusion that we had to shoot the entire film handheld, giving it that documentary style. It was important for us to intensify the character's emotions to help the audience immerse right in the story from the film’s beginning. We were not interesting in shooting a “beautiful” picture, but rather a strong and expressive picture to heighten the true state of “La Ramona’s” world. 

My mother was lucky to have survived such a journey but every year many of the 18,000 girls and women are not. How many more Ramonas will have to suffer this horrific experience?