Laurier hosts virtual screenings of award-winning film about Mexican mothers working in Canadian food industry

March 19, 2021
For Immediate Release

WATERLOO – The Wilfrid Laurier University Library and Laurier’s International Migration Research Centre (IMRC) will co-host two virtual screenings of the award-winning documentary film Migranta con M de mamá, which translates to Migrant Mother. The film, which won the Best Film About Women prize at the Toronto International Women Film Festival, documents the experiences of three mothers who have come to Canada from Mexico as part of the federal government’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program. The screenings will take place on Thursday, March 25.

"Migranta brings the voices of women migrant workers to the fore, which is particularly important at this moment in the context of global efforts to tackle gender inequality and the gendered impacts of migration," said Jenna Hennebry, associate professor of Communication Studies at Laurier and the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and co-founder of IMRC and the Migrant Worker Health Project.

Directed and produced by Aaraón Díaz Mendiburo, Migranta tells the stories of Vicky, Betty and Lety as they face calculated risks, difficult choices and harsh realities while navigating working and living in Canada while separated from families and communities they work to support.

Hennebry and her fellow IMRC researchers study the experiences of migrant agricultural workers in Canada and around the world. They have been mobilizing their research to raise awareness about the challenges workers face in realizing their rights and protecting their health. In 2020, Hennebry and Janet McLaughlin, associate professor of Community Health at Laurier, co-founded the Migrant Worker Health Expert Working Group to advocate for policy changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hennebry and McLaughlin will participate in panel conversations on Zoom following the two film screenings, which take place at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Their fellow panelists will include:

11 a.m. panel

• Eduardo Huesca, program coordinator, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc.
• Díaz Mendiburo, associate researcher, Center for Research on North America, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; director of Migranta con M de mama
• Deborah Faudoa Rodriguez, student, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

7 p.m. panel 

• Evelyn Encalada Grez, assistant professor, Labour Studies Program and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University
• Díaz Mendiburo
• Karla Angelica Valenzuela Moreno, associate professor, Universidad Iberoamerica 

Registration for the live screenings and subsequent Q&As are open to the public. Presented in partnership by the Laurier Library and IMRC, the events are co-hosted by the Women and Gender Studies Program and the Research Centre on North America at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.