Sweet Oranges
Director Nora Sweeney
Countries United States
Duration 18 min
Synopsis
Heading west from my house, I explore the back roads off of California State Route 126, finding small, historic towns, farms, and railway tracks nestled between mountains and orchards, a landscape that evokes a dream of California’s past. It resembles what migrant workers might have envisioned when traveling west in search of work in the 1930s, a vibrant, fertile promised land. This migration continues. In an orange grove, I meet Jaime, Blanca, and Hugo, a group of orange pickers from Michoacan, Mexico, who share with me their songs, dreams, aspirations, and thoughts about work.
Heading west from my house, I explore the back roads off of California State Route 126, finding small, historic towns, farms, and railway tracks nestled between mountains and orchards, a landscape that evokes a dream of California’s past. It resembles what migrant workers might have envisioned when traveling west in search of work in the 1930s, a vibrant, fertile promised land. This migration continues. In an orange grove, I meet Jaime, Blanca, and Hugo, a group of orange pickers from Michoacan, Mexico, who share with me their songs, dreams, aspirations, and thoughts about work.