Mija – Hot Docs 2022
Danny Elfman Teaches Music for Film
April 28 to May 8, 2022
Two Mexican-American women try to make it in the music industry and support their families in Mija. Doris Muñoz is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, who is working as a manager in the music industry, while also trying to acquire green cards for her parents. When Doris loses her primary client, she finds Jacks Haupt, another daughter of undocumented immigrants, hoping to leave Dallas and break into the music industry.
Mija is a documentary by Isabel Castro about two Mexican-American women trying to navigate the music industry, while also being the sole breadwinner for their families. Doris Muñoz and Jacks Haupt bond over the ever-present guilt of being the only documented member of their families, with Jacks, in particular, having a difficult time, due to her parent’s lack of support for her singing career. Doris, on the other hand, is desperate to get green cards for her parents, so they can return to Mexico to reunite with their deported son Jose.
It seems at times that Mija is trying to be two films at once, on one hand being about developing Latinx music artists, while also dealing with issues that come from being the only documented member of an immigrant family. The film primarily focuses on Doris Muñoz’s story, with the secondary subject Jacks Haupt all but disappearing from the film after a particularly difficult phone call with her mother. However, despite the lack of closure for Jacks’ story, Mija still ends up being a heartwarming story of Mexican immigrants in America.
