Sundance Film Festival is always fun. A few years ago, I attended my first Sundance screening, as a part of the University of Utah Health team. There we were able to see a documentary called “Dick Johnson is Dead.” It was a beautiful tribute of a loving daughter to her father who was suffering from dementia. The reception was wonderful, and we were able to meet with the people who made the movie right after the film.
In 2023, I attended my second Sundance Film Festival screening with U of U Health. It was called “Going Varsity in Mariachi.” This film struck a chord with me, as it was about Latino high school students trying to become successful in their respective career goals. The film was centered in a high school in the Rio Grande valley called Edinburg North. Even though most kids in high school in that area identify as Latino or Mexican American, Mariachi emerged as a competitive sport when local educational leaders sought to curb the increasing high school dropout rate among the students. While competitive Mariachi was not born in Edinburg, there are enough schools who sponsor Mariachi bands that there is a state-wide competition held every year for Mariachi groups. The judges in these competitions are mostly professional Mariachi musicians.
The movie spends time with a few of the senior students in Edinburg North High School. We get a few glimpses into their personal lives (one works farming pigs, another is in a lesbian relationship, another skips practice for his girlfriend, one needs a scholarship for music to leave the area, etc), but the movie is centered squarely on the work that is necessary to make a successful Mariachi band in high school. It follows the teacher closely as well, and shows the competition in a positive light.
I found that the movie spoke to me personally. I am not Mexican, but in Utah, most of the Latino population (85%) is of Mexican ancestry. In that way, I identified with the people in the movie. I also found it interesting that although most of the kids in the movie are of northern Mexican ancestry (from border states like Chihuahua and Sonora) Mariachi as an art form comes from Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. One of the most potent scenes in the move is when the teacher asks the students what Mariachi means to them. And one kid says, “It makes me feel seen.” That statement brought tears to my eyes, as I reflected on my own journey in academia and how often I feel invisible. In many ways, this movie made all of us who grew up Latino in the United States feel seen. It presented something that all of us can identify with, even though we may not be from the same part of Mexico as Mariachi, or we may not even be Mexican at all.
I really enjoyed the film and rejoiced in the success of these students. The film ends with the seniors in the Mariachi band graduating. It says what each of them went on to do, but I won’t go into detail. You’ll just have to watch it when it comes out on Netflix.
