New Film "Hide" Takes Us Inside the Lives of Vermont's Migrant Workers Struggles for Dignity

Hide Trailer from elori kramer on Vimeo.

“If you are drinking milk in the morning or in the night. Don’t forget that me and thousands and thousands of guys are milking the cows for you.”--Bernadino Hernandez in "Hide"

Film Description:
New documentary film "Hide" takes us inside the daily lives of several migrant dairy workers from Latin America who sustain Vermont's iconic dairy farms and working landscapes. Hide illuminates the feelings and experiences of the hidden lives of migrant farmworkers--feelings of isolation, fear, lack of recognition and sometimes hope. Using an unusual narrative form, the film combines original music, obscured images, and multi-voiced narration to provide an intimate glimpse at the daily lives of migrant workers and their fight for dignity.

Debut of "Hide"
Contact filmmakers: peter.coccoma@gmail.com and elori.kramer@gmail.com

When: 1/19-8:30pm; 1/22-6:30pm;
Mountain Top Film Festival http://www.mountaintopfilmfestival.com/
Where: Big Picture Theatre, Waitsfield

When 1/29, 7pm-9pm
Where: Middlebury, Axinn room 232, Middlebury College
What: Opening reception and appetizers 7pm-7:45; Film and Discussion 7:45-9pm
*donations suggested

When: 2/20, 7pm-9pm
Where: Burlington, Main St. Landing's Film House
What: Opening reception and appetizers 7pm-7:45; Film and Discussion 7:45-9pm
*donations suggested

Filmmaking Process:
After receiving the MiddChallenge Arts Grant in spring of 2011 for their project, filmmakers Elori Kramer and Peter Coccoma began preparing for the production of Hide. They spent the spring researching, assembling a team, and outlining the story. One major part of this preparation was working with Migrant Justice, a migrant farmworker group based in Burlington, VT to determine key issues, safe and productive ways to interview, and the best ways to represent those issues. With Migrant Justice’s help, Peter and Elori began visiting farms and conducting interviews in June. Through this collaboration between community organizers, migrant workers and artists, Hide became a powerful piece that provides an intimate glimpse at the daily lives of migrant workers and their fight for dignity.

Quotes from Film:

“Maybe they don’t understand, but we are not machines.”

“We are working here on this farm, but we never leave.”

“The experience I have lived in Vermont is… you live a little bit of everything."

"Sometimes you feel sad, other times depressed, sometimes alone because you are far away from all of your family and all those you hold dear in your home.”

“We hope that one day things work out that those workers who are here have the right to leave their homes and walk down the street like any other person. I think this would be beautiful.”

“If we’re going to keep going we have no choice than to have the migrants come in and help us. To me it’s as simple as that.”

“When something happens to a worker, we support him. When something bad happens to you, they support you.”

“If you are drinking milk in the morning or in the night. Don’t forget that me and thousands and thousands of guys are milking the cows for you.”