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Media Advisory

September 12 , 2006

Film focuses on personal stories behind immigration issues

WHAT:

Preview the one-hour version of the new PBS documentary Letters from the Other Side, featuring deeply personal stories of Mexican families torn apart as husbands, fathers, sons and brothers travel to the United States to find work. Austin Filmmaker Heather Courtney will be at the event to discuss this follow-up to her award-winning film Los Trabajadores. Both films tell the story of immigration with Los Trabajadores focusing on the story of the day laborers’ lives in the U.S. and Letters from the Other Side focusing on the families they leave behind in Mexico.

WHO:

• Filmmaker Heather Courtney
• KLRU-TV, Austin PBS

WHEN:      

Tuesday, September 26, at 9 p.m.

WHERE:

KLRU-TV’s Austin City Limits Studio 6A, in the University of Texas Communications Building B at the corner of Dean Keeton and Guadalupe.

COST:

Free and open to the public

ABOUT THE FILM :

KLRU will broadcast Letters from the Other Side on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 9 p.m. This documentary follows the lives of four Mexican women and their families, all affected by immigration in different ways. Filmed over two years in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, Letters from the Other Side interweaves their stories with cross-border video letters between loved ones and strangers. Find out more about this program at klru.org or sidestreetfilms.com

THE FILMMAKER :

Heather Courtney is a filmmaker, cinematographer and photographer based in Austin. Her most recent film, Letters from the Other Side, premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January, screened at the South by Southwest International Film Festival (SXSW), and was funded by a Fulbright and grant from the Independent Television Service (ITVS). Her previous film, Los Trabajadores/The Workers, won the Audience Award at SXSW in 2001, and was broadcast nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens in 2003. She is currently producing the Texas segment of a national PBS documentary on the health insurance crisis.

KLRU:

KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, reflects, celebrates and inspires Central Texas through creative excellence,
community engagement and lifelong learning. Although primarily a television station providing locally produced and quality national programming, KLRU is also a non-profit organization helping to build a stronger community through educational workshops, community outreach projects and public events. Get more information about KLRU at klru.org.

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