The University of Guadalajara Foundation in the United States of America, Inc. (UGD Foundation-USA), the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG) and the University of Guadalajara at Los Angeles (UDGLA) supported the screening of the Mexican documentary Los Hedereros (The Inheritors) at the 23rd annual AFI FEST film festival in Hollywood, California. The festival, hosted by the American Film Institute, ran from October 30 to November 7.

This film, directed by Eugenio Polgovsky, exposes the harsh reality of child labor in Mexico. For this reason it has received financial support from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) as a project that would help raise awareness among governments, institutions and society in hopes that this longstanding practice involving children and youth in our country will be eradicated.

Polgovsky’s documentary deals with child labor as it exists in Mexican regions such as Veracruz, Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero. Los Herederos shows how children living in rural Mexico begin to work at a very young age and gives a portrait of their lives and daily struggle to survive. The jobs they perform are numerous: working on farms, tending livestock, cutting firewood, sewing fabric, brick making, caring for younger siblings, harvesting fields far from their homeland, transporting water and making alebrije woodcrafts. This documentary puts forth the argument that because these children have inherited the tools and techniques of their ancestors, they have also inherited their hardships.

About 100 people attended the film’s AFI FEST screening, held on November 1 at the Spielberg Theatre at the Egyptian, including Alejandro Pelayo, the Mexican Consul for Cultural Affairs in LA, Randall Johnson, Director of the UCLA Latin American Institute, as well as several UDGLA representatives.

For his part, AFI FEST programming director Robert Koehler said he was impressed by the production value and thematic content of Los Herederos. It was after hearing about the sensation the film created at the 2009 Guadalajara Internatonal Film Festival that he decided to extend an invitation for it to appear at AFI FEST.

This film has received several recognitions and awards in Mexico and abroad, including the following: Ariel Awards 2009 (by the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) in the Best Documentary Feature and Best Editing categories; the Best Documentary Award from the Santiago de Chile International Film Festival; the Amnesty International Award 2009 at the Ljubljana International Film Festival in Slovenia and the Indie Lisboa film festival in Portugal.

AFI FEST is a festival hosted each fall by the American Film Institute (AFI) which features the best work from both emerging and established filmmakers. Among the 65,000 people who attend are prominent members of the film production and distribution industries. It is a great place to talk to directors and producers whose films have been selected for the festival.

AFI is a national organization which promotes excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI hosts a variety of activities and makes a point of featuring the work of veteran and emerging filmmakers alike. It also works to preserve the legacy of America’s film heritage by running an extensive film catalogue and database service.

Further information: http://www.afifest.com http://www.losherededos.com.mx