Gregory Nava’s El Norte will be rereleased theatrically for the first time since its original

Gregory Nava’s El Norte will be rereleased theatrically for the first time since its original run 35 years ago. Thanks to a brand new restoration conducted by the Academy Film Archive and the Getty Foundation, audiences can see it in theaters on September 15—the first day of Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, which coincides with the independence days of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Directed by Nava from a screenplay co-written by Anna Thomas, El Norte tells the story of two indigenous siblings who flee from persecution in their native Guatemala to follow the promise of a better life in the United States. Together Nava and Thomas attended the inaugural 1981 Directors Lab as part of a cohort of filmmakers invited by Robert Redford to develop their screenplays with the newly founded Sundance Institute. At the heart of El Norte is what Redford calls “the pursuit of a sense of place”—a struggle that resonates as deeply today as it did 35 years ago. 

To learn more about El Norte, check out this interview with Gregory Navaandthis essay by Héctor Tobar.

Photos: 1. Film still courtesy of El Norte ; 2. Creative Advisor Waldo Salt and El Norte filmmakers Anna Thomas and Gregory Nava. © 1981 Sharon M. Beard