What We Leave Behind

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

For many of us we look to our parents and grandparents as the key to our ancestry. And sometimes we get more than we bargained for. In the movie What We Leave Behind filmmaker Iliana Sosa brings us into the world of her grandfather Julián Moreno and his final journey home, both literally and figuratively.

For years Julián Moreno has made the trek via bus from Durango, Mexico and back to visit his family in El Paso, TX. Due to his age and beginning of difficulties during travel, Julián can no longer make the journey and returns to Mexico with his granddaughter Iliana accompanying him on the trip. At home Julián lives with his legally blind son Jorge in a small but comfortable abode. We also come to find that Julián has started plans to build a new house to be built right next to his current one…just in case any of his children decide to return to Mexico.

Iliana Sosa has filmed a touching tribute to her grandfather in What We Leave Behind. Told through Sosa’s footage of her time across the border in Durango, we see Julián as more than just her grandfather and you get the feeling that she gains a whole new perspective from the filming of this documentary. From his time as a bracero (laborer) with a borrowed identity to never remarrying after the death of his late wife Lidia, Julián bares all to his audience in a calm and quiet demeanor. But more than learning his history through his own stories, we also learn about his life through those who loved him most and through the lens of Iliana’s camera. And Julián’s love and dreams for his family to remain close to him in his final years is apparent, especially in his persistence to have a place for his children in his hometown.

What struck me most about the documentary are the little moments that Sosa was able to capture on film, portraying her grandfather as an individual who is more about actions than words. After the loss of his wife Lidia at thirty-nine years old, Julián would still find time to bring flowers to her grave. While the new house was in process of being built all workers were taken care of with meals and beverages as they toiled under the hot sun. And while Iliana was filming and asking her grandfather questions about his life, he would never hesitate to cook her up a fried egg and hold a casual conversation on camera—sometimes even showing her around the local sites like the House of 100 Doors. Up until the very end Julián’s kindness and compassion was there, even as he made sure that his son Jorge would be well taken care of and retain all the familiarities of home.

In learning more about her family’s past, Sosa has reminded us that it is important to keep yourself grounded in those roots because it is from those roots that we find the ability to grow. With What We Leave Behind we recall that we must use our grown to honor the journey that those roots have given us.