The genre of science fiction has taken its audience from “The Matrix” to galaxies far away, but it is rare to see the genre go anywhere south of the border.
As part of the Melnitz Movies series, the Chicano Studies Research Center and the Latin American Institute will be premiering the critically acclaimed film “Sleep Dealer” with an appearance by the film’s writer and director, Alex Rivera.
“Science fiction is unique because it lets us visualize and contemplate the world we are going to,” Rivera said. “It’s set in Mexico, told in Spanish and looks at America from the outside.”
A self-proclaimed “New York Peruano Mestizo,” Rivera created a film that transcends both sides of the American experience.
His protagonist, Memo, goes north to Tijuana, the “city of the future,” to work in a factory where his body is implanted by nodes connecting his nervous system to the Internet, which then controls robots working outside Mexico. The workers work until their bodies collapse, earning the factories the nickname “sleep dealers.”
Rivera believes that understanding who wins and loses and how globalization is changing the world are crucial issues that are worthy of reflection.
“If anybody reading this interview doesn’t know why globalization is important to them, they should take off their clothes and look at the labels or they should turn their computers upside down and see where it is made,” Rivera said.
For 15 years, Rivera has been creating short films dealing with issues of immigration, using the genre of science fiction to bridge the gap of representation of developing nations in film.
“To me, it’s shocking and sad that the Global South (Third World) has no future in cinema,” Rivera said. “We have never seen the future in Mexico, Brazil or Peru. It’s a gaping hole in our collective imagination, and I wanted to make a film that was at least a first step in filling that hole.”
“Sleep Dealer” is Rivera’s first feature-length film. He acknowledged cinematic influences from the classic immigration film “El Norte,” documentaries and even envisioned Luke Skywalker as an uprooted immigrant farm worker.
There has been major buzz surrounding the film since its premiere last December.
“Sleep Dealer” was the 2008 Sundance Film Festival winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Prize and 2008 nominee for both a Gotham Award and a Film Independent Spirit Award.
Latino community leaders have also contacted Rivera about the film’s distribution, including Moctesuma Esparza, a UCLA alumnus and head of Maya Entertainment.
For Rivera, “Sleep Dealer” is a chance to reflect on the world we are currently building, with issues that not only relate to immigration but also the creation of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, remote controlled weaponry used in war, and privacy.
Rivera said, “Any moment of reflection is what you need before action. That is the most I can hope for.”