A Day Without a Mexican: 20 Years Later

Twenty years ago, Sergio Arau and Yareli Arizmendi, the creators of A Day Without a Mexican, asked and answered their own question: How do you make the invisible visible? You take it away.

A Day Without a Mexican is a serious comedy that addresses the difficult issue of migration of not only Mexicans but all Latin Americans to the United States. The script takes seriously what Americans say they want: for all Mexicans (this includes all Latin Americans) to leave their country so the rightful occupants can enjoy a better reality. Immediately afterward, the entire Latin population of the U.S.A. disappears. Where they went does not matter to us, the film focuses on what the Americans do without them.

Through the various personal stories that the film presents, we explore the labor, economic and social dependence that Americans do not accept or hypocritically deny having with the “Latino” population within their country, which is largely responsible for the economic growth and well-being of the country.