By, Ellisya Lindsey

Even though the United States is based on immigration, the topic of immigration itself still remains controversial to this day. Inspired by the complicated history of immigration in the United States, Lia K. ’19 made Back of the House, a documentary that explores the lives of Latinx immigrants in  the United States who work in food service. Lia has practically always been interested in public policy and affairs. As a result of her internship in the Governor’s office during the summer of 2016, she has become more “passionate about making change and organizing [her] community.” Lia’s affinity for activism, such as calling and writing for campaigns, gave  her the foundation to produce Back of the House and show it in assembly at Winsor.

For Lia, Back of the House “started out as a way…to educate [herself] on the daily lives and achievements of immigrants in service industries.” However, when she “realized how important, and sometimes overlooked, their contributions were, “[Lia] decided to film the interviews and create a documentary to convey the hard work and sacrifice [she]  had seen.” From February 2017, she spent a year working on Back of the House by scheduling interviews, filming, editing together all of the material and creating a promotional poster. The many parts of this documentary that she committed to making show her dedication to this cause. She also received help translating interviews filmed in Spanish into English from Ms. Bravo, an Upper School Spanish teacher. Because Lia “really wanted people to see that the immigration isn’t and shouldn’t be a far off issue; even if people don’t realize it, immigrants shape and better everyone’s daily lives,” she dedicated between five hours to 28 hours a week to make sure that she had the most effective product.

As Lia hoped, students did begin to think about and discuss the issue of immigration more than they had before. Kayla L. ’19 reflected, “I thought [Back of the House] was extremely inspiring, and it really left me thinking about the way that I interact with others. Also, I never really thought about the workers I didn’t see in restaurants. It was eye opening to get their perspectives.” Sophie ’19 also found the documentary compelling. She shared, “I thought Lia’s documentary was super impressive and thought-provoking. It has inspired me to start discussions with my peers and others outside of Winsor about the significant role of immigrants in the service industry that we often do not acknowledge.” Lia has entered Back of the House into some film festivals both in and outside of Boston in hopes of opening a larger discussion. She became a semifinalist in the Los Angeles CineFest. Additionally, Back of the House will be shown at the New Haven International Film Festival from May 2 to May 6 this year, so it seems that Lia is most definitely on her way to achieving her goal of making sure that the Latinx immigrants are no longer forgotten in the Back of the House. Visit the website for more information about the documentary!