Los Comandos

One out of every 200 children in the world is now a refugee.  Young people are the first to be adversely affected by displacement, and millions of children have been forced to flee their homes. In Central America, the situation is particularly intense, and as the US continues to debate immigration, brutality and instability continue to push thousands of young people north.

Los Comandos is a powerful story of young people fighting and fleeing harrowing violence in El Salvador. It’s an urgent, verite driven film that brings viewers into the center of El Salvador’s epidemic of Gang Violence from the perspective of young people facing the greatest threat. It’s a story about fighting for your family and community when death and danger lurk around every corner. It’s also a vivid, unflinching portrayal of why so many young Central Americans are forced to flee their homes.

The film was shortlisted for best documentary short for the 91st Academy Awards, and nominated for an International Documentary Association Award for best documentary short. The film won best documentary short at The Austin Film festival and has screened on PBS via World Channel and in festivals across the US.

 

In El Salvador, gang and police violence disproportionately targets children and teenagers. The emergency medical unit, Los Comandos de Salvamento, is one of the few institutions that is willing to take a stand against this reign of terror, and is a place of refuge and community for young people. Mimi, a high school student and Los Comando Volunteer,  is caught in the violence. She has seen her friends attacked and killed, and is facing pressure to leave El Salvador. Her family and community struggle to survive in a situation that is often referred to as the ‘new civil war’.

Mimi and her friends are growing up in a war zone, surrounded by violent gangs and heavily armored police. Terror has eliminated freedom of movement for these young people. Los Comandos asks the viewer to consider how they would act when faced with such life threatening situations. With neighborhoods being torn apart and homes broken, the pressure to leave is constantly  present.  This is  a story about sacrifice and courage that is seldom found in media coverage of migration stories. Before a child is ever an unaccompanied minor, they are kids, and some are heroes, like Mimi and her friends in Los Comandos.

Los Comandos is part of a multi-film project on the Global Refugee Crisis, titled Humanity On the Move.