First Voice Generation Documentary
First Voice Generation is a documentary film highlighting the racial, educational, and financial barriers of higher education for first generation college students. Even though 44 percent of Latino students are the first in their family to attend college, Latinos receive the lowest average amount of aid when compared to all students. Although, pursuing higher education is at an all-time high, finishing college and representation is still a challenge. Join the Newbury Center, TRiO Upward Bound, and the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development for a screening and discussion panel at the Howard Thurman Center.
First Voice Generation screening in conversation with filmmaker Cynthia Martinez
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Howard Thurman Center, 808 Commonwealth Ave
Reception begins at 5:30pm, the program begins at 6:00pm.
Film Synopsis:
First Voice Generation follows the stories of three Latinx high school students in Holland, Michigan, during an unprecedented global pandemic year. Each student struggles with their identity growing up in a historically Dutch community, feeling that they don’t belong because they are children of Mexican immigrants. They each dream of being the first in their family to go college, but a year of challenges ensue with virtual learning, and the realization that the cost of affording college seems impossible.
Filmmaker’s Bio: Cynthia Martinez is a 2nd generation Mexican-American born into a working-class family in Holland, Michigan. She is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, keynote speaker, mother, and wife. A graduate of Western Michigan University, she set out to work and realized she had stories to tell. With that passion, she enrolled in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and completed her master’s Program in 2012. Her experience includes working for Univision News in Miami and is currently engaged with directing and producing films and media that advocate social justice.