Prodigal Daughter

Filmmaker and ​artist Mabel Valdiviezo reunites with her family in Peru after 16 years of silence.
by
Mabel Valdiviezo
2024
90 mins

Prodigal Daughter follows filmmaker and former punk artist Mabel Valdiviezo, who escaped Peru’s Fujimori dictatorship and fled to the United States, leaving her family behind. After sixteen years of silence, she returns to Peru, confronting haunting childhood memories, fractured family ties, and her troubled past as an undocumented immigrant.

Synopsis

Filmmaker and ​former punk artist Mabel Valdiviezo reunites with her family in Peru after 16 years of silence, confronting haunting childhood memories, her youth in war-torn Peru, and a troubled past as an undocumented immigrant in the United States.

Blending intimate vérité scenes with her vibrant photo-paintings and youthful animation, Prodigal Daughter explores gendered migration, belonging, identity, family relationships, mental health, and the transformative power of art.

As a woman artist grappling with the choices she was forced to make, the film challenges the “good immigrant” versus “bad immigrant” narrative, revealing a nuanced and complex perspective on migration and diaspora.

Director Commentary

Art has always been my refuge; filming and painting my story has helped me make sense of my journey and heal the bonds with my family.

Prodigal Daughter is an intimate first-person journey that exposes the emotional and ​mental health toll of living undocumented in the United States—while reclaiming the humanity and dignity often erased by today’s political rhetoric. By sharing my own experience, the film reveals why people flee political violence and fascism, illuminates the struggles of Latinx immigrant women who live without a safety net and are criminalized for their survival labor, explores the loss of being separated from family and culture, and celebrates the healing power of ​reconnection​ among transnational families.

Through this film, I wanted to turn a personal odyssey into a collective healing testimony, giving voice to the complex stories that shape our diaspora. Ultimately, I hope that my story inspires immigrants to maintain ties to loved ones across borderlands, even when those bonds must be mended through difficult conversations and circumstances.

Features and Languages

Film Features

  • Closed Captioning

Film/Audio Languages

  • English
  • Spanish/español

Subtitle/Caption Languages

  • English
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