One of the film's subjects, farm worker Miguel Hernandez, left the U.S. with his family after Donald Trump was elected.
A short documentary making the rounds of the nation’s film festivals shows the interconnected fates of Wisconsin’s dairy industry and undocumented immigrant workers.
Los Lecheros centers on Guillermo Ramos Bravo, a farm manager; John Rosenow, owner of Rosenow Farm in Cochrane, Wisconsin; and farm worker Miguel Hernandez and his wife, Luisa Tepole, who decided to leave the U.S. after Donald Trump was elected president.
The film represents an uncommon collaborative journalism effort between the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ), Wisconsin Public Radio and Twelve Letter Films.
The 21-minute doc began as an investigative report prompted by the Trump administration’s attacks on undocumented immigrants. Alexandra Hall, an investigative reporting fellow for Wisconsin Public Radio and WCIJ, began visiting dairy farms with Coburn Dukehart, WCIJ's digital and multimedia director. Hall, who is bilingual in Spanish and English, conducted interviews and Dukehart shot photos.
“Alex is a skilled reporter and she’s also a really good listener,” says Dukehart, who worked for National Public Radio and National Geographic. “She was able to be compassionate and ask intimate, detailed questions, and really showed that she cared about the farm workers and their stories.”
The story moved to the screen after producer Susan Peters of Twelve Letter Films and her husband, Jim Cricchi, saw Hall’s first article on the issue. “It clicked immediately with me; I knew Wisconsin would be an interesting place moving forward after the election,” says Cricchi, who pitched the idea of a documentary to WCIJ.
Cricchi’s first day of shooting was combined with a follow-up visit from Hall and Dukehart, just days before Hernandez and Tepole were moving back to Mexico with their two young boys. It was a “sensitive situation,” says Cricchi. “It was absolutely integral to build trust by walking in with Alex.”
The release of the film seems to have struck a chord with audiences nationally. In addition to having its Midwest premiere at the 2018 Wisconsin Film Festival, it’s been an official selection at 16 film festivals, with upcoming screenings at Mountainfilm in Aspen, Colorado, and the New York Latino Film Festival. It has also screened on Milwaukee’s PBS station, and is available online via The Atlantic.
Two of the documentary’s subjects, Rosenow and Bravo, attended the screening at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival. “It was the most amazing experience to be with those guys; the audience gave them so much respect,” says Peters.
Dukehart says the film’s focus on individual stories creates audience empathy. “This narrative humanizes an issue by showing that these are people that are hard workers, care about their families, the farmers they work for, and that they are supporting the state’s signature industry,” says Dukehart.
In the end, Los Lecheros gives viewers a glimpse into lives caught in the middle of a national crisis. “The power of documentaries is when a film takes you somewhere you don’t get to go,” says Dukehart.
