Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Utsler)

Act One

The lights come up on Tamara Falicov in a dark room filled with a handful of students. "Machuca", the movie Falicov, professor of theatre and film and Latin American studies at the University of Kansas, brought back from Chile has just finished playing. The film portrayed the social and political climate of Chile after the Pinochet military coup, and Falicov is ready to discuss the deep emotions brought across the screen. In the minutes that follow, she mediates an intelligent, poignant and arousing discussion with her students.

This is Professor Falicovs preferred medium, an open discussion on human ideas and emotions spurred on with a little help from the movies. Falicov believes the films of Latin America can change the human landscape and force adjustments in reactions and thoughts in the United States. The casual observer might not understand the importance of her work or the way it changes attitudes but perhaps if you are to understand Falicov and her work, first you must understand its relevance.

Rewind To Real Time

The United States is embroiled in a stanch debate over the future of illegal Latin American immigrants in the nation. Marches to state capitol buildings and other bastions of political activity have been popping up in cities across the nation, including Lawrence. Newspapers across the world report that the country is beefing up its borders anticipating a wave of immigration in the hot summer months. North America is poised to take a stand at a crucial time.

Falicov's Latin American studies come at a pivotal moment in North American society. She has spent years studying the political, social and artistic aspects of the U.S.'s neighbors to the South, in an effort to break down barriers and change stereotypes about the influx of Latin American people and culture in the country.

"I think that some of the stereotypes that people from the U.S. have of Latinos is that all Latin Americans are poor, uneducated, and do not want to speak English," Falicov said. "People here lump all Latinos into one group and think that all Latin Americans live in squalor and do not have modern conveniences."

Falicov has worked to change attitudes by bringing knowledge of Latin American culture to Kansas by opening the lines of communication with her students about a culture that has more vivid and artistic experiences than many of them first thought. Though her work is centered on the entertainment and artistic industries, she thinks these mediums are key to revealing the true essence of a culture. She said she hopes her work will have an even greater presence in changing attitudes amidst the immigration debate in helping people to understand that America was founded by immigrants.

"My hope is that with the ongoing controversy around immigration to the U.S. that people are sensitized to see that it is the most resilient and brave people who decide to uproot and come to another country," Falicov said. "Many people who live in the U.S. once came from somewhere else."

Flashback

If Falicov understands the plight of new U.S. citizens, it is only because she has lived it. She was born in Chicago, to immigrants from Buenos Aires. Growing up, Falicov and her family learned to assimilate to North American culture and customs, but she felt like she was even more in the minority because her family was Jewish and Argentinean.

"There was some idea of a conflicted identity," Falicov said. "There was this thought that you had to be either/or (one nationality) and not and. Being the child of Russian-Jewish Argentines has given me a unique window from which to feel like an outsider within a minority culture in the U.S."

Falicov learned to straddle both different cultural and a religious dichotomies. Her mother faced discrimination growing up Jewish in Catholic Argentina. While her parents were not strong practicing Jews, Falicov felt some sense of anti-Semitism and begged her parents for a Bat Mitzvah.

She was also required to examine her different identities when she entered public grade school and she was forced to forget the Spanish she spoke at home with her parents. Years later in graduate school at the University of California- San Diego she returned to her Latin American roots and picked up the language once again.

Talk to Falicov for any length of time and you will quickly discover that Spanish and Latin American culture is where her heart and work lies. Yet another seeming dichotomy of her life is the journey of discovery that led her there. A job in San Francisco, before graduate school, in the alternative film production industry sparked her interest in film and led her to study communications at UC-San Diego. Her multicultural background ignited her interest in Latin American studies, and she decided to fuse her two loves. She went on to write her dissertation on the contemporary Argentinean film industry. While she was living in Buenos Aires and working closely with film directors and actors, she came across a listing for a professor in film studies and Latin American culture at KU and immediately packed her bags for Kansas.

Her intent was to expose the culture and art of the Latin American film industry to the mainstream North American population. Her work has not only made her an advocate for struggling film communities in Latin America, but also for the perception of the country as a whole.

"Latin America has been perceived in a negative light," Falicov said. "Too many times the U.S. views Latin America as a Third World country."

Falicov invests time helping her students learn more about the influx of Latin American immigrants who have come to the United States.

Act Two

Many of Falicov's students say she effectively changes attitudes by conveying vivid Latin American experiences to those most unfamiliar with it, because she lived it herself. Stacy Lutsch, Oregon graduate student and one of Falicov's students in her political economy of Latin America class, said Falicov's personal teaching style best incorporates a wide range of students.

"She brings knowledge to the forefront in ways that are accessible to all," Lustch said. "She uses a lot of her own experiences to explain the understudied Latin American film industry."

After establishing a strong Latin American film studies program at KU, Falicov got the chance to pursue a longly held dream to study in Cuba when she led students and faculty from KU to the politically conflicted country. She said she was happy to see the students she took discovering what life was like in a different culture.

The learning experience in Cuba was full of its fair share of challenges though. Restrictions on North American travel into the country forced the groups to charter a private plane. While Falicov said that the group was welcomed with open arms on their journey in Cuba, they were hassled when they returned to the U.S. One of Falicov's students was even stopped in the airport and accused of trying to sneak into the U.S. illegally.

Act Three

Colleagues and students said that Falicov has no problem facing such challenges in order to foster a greater understanding of multiculturalism. Kathy Porsch, Grant Development Officer for the Hall Center for the Humanities, has worked with Falicov on developing many grants, including one to develop her book on the Argentinean film industry that will be released this fall. Porsch recognized Falicov's exceptional ability to delve full-throttle into her work.

"She has the ability to roll up her sleeves," Porsch said. "She has a genuine desire to help her students achieve. She is an example to her colleagues and students."

The End

Falicov herself prefers to stay mum about her many accolades and lets the true mission of her work shine through: a greater understanding and appreciation of differences. She prefers her work to play out like the movies she loves: to show and not tell. By working to bring experiences to her students and colleagues she hopes to bridge the gap between the known and unknown, especially with issues dealing with stereotypes of Latin American immigrants.

"It seems to me that this is one way to change people's hearts and minds--and this is through filming peoples' lives, experiences and struggles; and finding out a way to make this real for the students," Falicov said.

For now Falicov is happy for the lights to dim to watch another movie that will create another open forum.