Filmmaker Statement

I met Araceli Salcedo at a New York City Woman’s Day event in March 2022. I briefly spoke with Salcedo before she stood up in front of the NYC Public Library and began telling her painful story to a crowd full of strangers and onlookers who only stopped briefly to get a sense of what was going on. Salcedo spoke from a place of vulnerability and courage. Growing up in Mexico, I was taught that one should avoid talking about missing people. It’s a dangerous topic that everyone knows about, but no one ever talks about. I’d never heard anyone speak so honestly and frankly about the topic or their personal story as Salcedo did. I was so moved by Salcedos’s courage that I promised I would help tell her story and that of the other families in her collective. As a Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker, I saw it as my duty to tell this story. Ultimately "Hasta Encontrarlos" seeks to help raise awareness and increase visibility not only for the people who go missing but also for t