Hasta Encontrarlos (Till We Find Them) Review

Hasta Encontrarlos (Till We Find Them) dir. Jean Chapiro, Columbia University

Set in the deep thicket of the hills in Orizaba, Mexico a group gathers in a circle and finishes a prayer with a roll call, exclaiming present after each name.

“All who are missing” “PRESENT”

Hasta Enontrarlos (Till We Find Them) follows a collective made up of 350 families called “Families of the Disappeared Orizaba - Córdoba” who look for their lost loved ones, who have been taken away. These family member have either disappeared without a trace or have been kidnapped in attempts to ransom money from the family. The police are hesitant to ever get involved and often falsely blame the victim for “being involved in drugs or other criminal activity”.

The dedication and steadfastness of these family members in their tireless search is inspiring. Although they keep hope that one day their loved one will return home unharmed, they spend their time searching up and down the jungled hills for bodies in clandestine graves.

Jean Chapiro’s direction excels in the interviewing segments of this short as we are invited into the families’ homes, and they share the stories of the worst day of their lives. The connection you feel is personal, as if you are there at the table drinking a cup of tea with them, sitting with them in their pain. Often they sit next to doll made in the likeness of the one they are missing, created by an artisan in their hometown. These dolls shine a beacon of hope for these families, as it gives a tangible reminder of what they fight and search for each day:

“We say that they are healing dolls it’s like having a small part of them with us”

The interviews perfectly capture the feelings of the family and the story they have to tell in a concise yet profound manner, giving justice to the issue at hand.

Equally impressive is the portrayal of the dangers and difficulty of the hikes up the steep, brushed-filled mountains where bodies could be found at any step. Although protected by armed guard there is no garuantee they won’t run into some danger themselves.

Hasta Encontrarlos ends with a series of stunning portraits of family members holding a picture of their loved ones while staggering statistics of the groups impact are told on screen. The short can only leave the viewer hoping that one day those photographs they are holding will be replaced by the holding of their loved one.

Review by: Brandon MacMurray