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Freeing Juanita

Sponsored Project

  • Sebastián Lasaosa Rogers, Director
  • Ana Gómez, Producer
  • Tristan Call, Producer
  • Adrián Gutiérrez, Producer
A woman from the back, sitting in front of other women, young and old, in a dark room. The woman in the center of the image has her hair braided any tied back with a white flower broche. She's wearing a colorful embroidered blue Maya huipil.

About the Project

Juanita has been unjustly detained in Reynosa, Mexico for over seven years, accused of a crime she didn’t commit and forced to confess in a language she didn’t understand.

This intimate portrait follows Ana and Pedro, Juanita’s aunt and uncle, on their thousand-mile journey from the highlands of Guatemala. With the help of their Maya Chuj community and a network of Maya interpreters, they fight for Juanita’s freedom and demand justice from the Mexican authorities, a cause that became internationally recognized for its defense of migrants’ rights and language justice.