This film 'The Short Life of Jose Antonio Gutierrez' is an interesting documentary following the story of a Guatemalan caught in the crossfire - literally and metaphorically. Here's a review of the film from Rotten Tomatoes.
"José Antonio Gutierrez was one of the 300,000 U.S. Army troops sent to Iraq in March 2003. A few hours after the war began, he also became the first American soldier to be killed. The nightly news eulogized him as a Guatemalan boy who wanted to be an American and serve his country.
Heidi Specogna's remarkable documentary, The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez, reveals another powerful, poetic story that resonates in the lives of hundreds of thousands of emigrants searching for survival today. With two photos of José Antonio–one as a child orphan, and one in full military dress–Specogna embarks in search of the story between the pictures. She finds the people who knew him; she also finds thousands of emigrants who are repeating José Antonio's odyssey from the world of the poor to the realm of the rich. They tell their own stories of surviving desperately poor conditions and making harrowing journeys to the U.S.A. in the hope of finding a better, more livable future.
What emerges is not only the story of a war hero but a portrait of the socioeconomic conditions that shaped José Antonio's life. In The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez, one man's story becomes a sobering chronicle of the brutal world we live in today."
You can read the report from Fergal Keane on the BBC posted at the time of his death. I'd also recommend reading Arte-Sano's blog post on the film who went to see it at the Latin American Film Festival in San Francisco. Here's a taste: Heidi Specogna's remarkable documentary, The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez, reveals another powerful, poetic story that resonates in the lives of hundreds of thousands of emigrants searching for survival today. With two photos of José Antonio–one as a child orphan, and one in full military dress–Specogna embarks in search of the story between the pictures. She finds the people who knew him; she also finds thousands of emigrants who are repeating José Antonio's odyssey from the world of the poor to the realm of the rich. They tell their own stories of surviving desperately poor conditions and making harrowing journeys to the U.S.A. in the hope of finding a better, more livable future.
What emerges is not only the story of a war hero but a portrait of the socioeconomic conditions that shaped José Antonio's life. In The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez, one man's story becomes a sobering chronicle of the brutal world we live in today."
"Lo más triste e irónico de su história es que José no murío abandonado en las calles de Guate de niño, ni de ninguna enfermedad o adicción, no murio en ninguna pandilla o por la violencia común ni siquiera por la misma policia o el ejercito, ni murio durante la guerra civil en nuestro país. Ni siquiera cruzando Mexico hacia los EEUU, como tantos emigrantes mueren cada día, ni en las calles de Los Angeles como "homeless" o en alguna prisón gringa, no. Es más ni siquiera murio en un enfrentamiento con el "enemigo" en Iraq; ironicamente lo mato "fuego amigo" o "Friendly Fire" como dice el reporte oficial..."
