Cinequest brings international films to San Jose: 'A Christmas in Tent City'

By Maggie Beidelman

'A Christmas in Tent City'

Based on a story from Francisco Jimenez's book, "The Circuit," this short documentary-style film tells the story of a family of Californian migrant workers struggling to celebrate Christmas.

The story is told through voice-overs and interviews with Jimenez and his brother, Roberto Jimenez, and with illustrations by Claire Cotts, author of the children's picture book, "The Christmas Gift."

"It was an amazing experience," said the film's director, Michael Whalen. "When we hear stories about people who have experienced pretty rough lives, we expect them to be bitter. (Francisco) has got to be one of the kindest, most gentile persons I've ever met."

Whalen, a professor of film and television in the communication department at Santa Clara, admired the element of humanity in Jimenez's autobiographical trilogy about growing up in a poor farmworker family and attending Santa Clara, where he eventually became a professor.

"This isn't your typical documentary," said Whalen. "There's been a trend lately of doing a lot of documentaries that are very dark. Even though this film is about difficult subjects, it is more about hope rather than despair."

The 10-minute film is the predecessor to a feature film emphasizing Francisco's brothers' stories, for which Whalen is currently gathering funds.

"Grant money has dried up," said Whalen. So, by entering the short documentary into film festivals like Cinequest, Whalen hopes to gain exposure and financial support for the larger project. The feature film will be in the same documentary format with additional stock footage, still imagery and Life magazine photographs.

"A Christmas in Tent City" won an award of excellence from the Accolade Competition in December, and more recently, the Broadcast Education Association Award of Excellence.

"It's important when I make films that my subject of my film, that it's their film and their voice, not mine," said Whalen.

The film will premiere Sunday, March 1, at 11:45 a.m., and will play twice more during the week. It will be shown with five other 10-minute films in the Shorts Program 2: Document: The World segment.

Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu.