No Soy Óscar

July 6, 2021

Since 1994 an estimated 10,000 people have died crossing the US/Mexico border

Winner of the President’s Award at Full Frame!

“Searching for the place on the border between Mexico and Texas where Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his young daughter Angie Valeria drowned, director Jon Ayon carefully sifts through layers of memory, trauma, and grief. With stunning visuals and an intricate sound design, this poignant film weaves the voices of Indigenous people with the filmmaker’s own intimate reflections to reveal a portrait of loss that is both personal and far-reaching.”
Full Frame President’s Award Jury

Watch Filmmaker Jon Ayon’s interview with Full Frame’s Katelyn Liu here:

In No Soy Óscar, a Salvadoran American father films a letter to his daughter as he travels along the southern border through unceded lands in search of a place that haunts him—the banks of the Rio Grande where Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his young daughter Angie Valeria drowned. Along the way, he contemplates land ownership, migration, and guilt as a Mestizo son of immigrants born on the “free” side of an arbitrary line.