Luis Argueta

Luis Argueta is a film director and producer whose work spans features, documentaries, shorts and episodic TV. He has also worked as commercial director, lecturer and teacher in the United States, Europe and throughout the Americas. Born and raised in Guatemala, Argueta is a US Citizen and has been a resident of New York since 1977. His film The Silence of Neto (1994) is the first Guatemalan film to have been submitted to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. In April 2009, the British newspaper The Guardian, listed Mr. Argueta as one of Guatemala’s National Living Icons, alongside Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu and Singer/Songwriter Ricardo Arjona.

In August of 2015, Luis Argueta was awarded the Order of Quetzal in the degree of Grand Officer, the highest honor given by Guatemala. Argueta, is the recipient of the 2019 Harris Wofford Global Citizen Awardfrom the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA),

Argueta’s series of films on immigration -- abUSed: The Postville Raid (2010), Abrazos (2014), and The U Turn (2017) -- brings into sharp focus the resilience of immigrants, their struggle to succeed often against impossible odds as well as their contributions to their countries of origin and to American society. abUSed: The Postville Raid tells the story of the largest single site immigration raid in the history of the US. Abrazos, follows the journey of 14 U.S. Citizen Children from Minnesota to Guatemala to meet their grandparents for the first time. The U Turn, tells how a group of immigrant workers, with the courage to break the silence and the solidarity of a community, transformed their lives.

His films can be viewed online at New Day Films, Kanopy and www.LuisArguetaA.com

Luis Argueta is a film director and producer, who has been telling transnational immigrant stories since 1977. His work spans features, documentaries, shorts and episodic TV. He has also worked as commercial director, lecturer and teacher in the United States, Europe and throughout the Americas. Born and raised in Guatemala, Argueta is a US Citizen and has been a resident of New York since 1977. His feature film The Silence of Neto (1994), the coming of age story of a 12 year-old boy in 1954 Cold War-Guatemala, ​is the first Guatemalan film internationally recognized and the first Guatemalan production ever to be submitted to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. In April 2009, the British newspaper The Guardian, listed Mr. Argueta as one of Guatemala’s National Living Icons, alongside Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu and Singer/Songwriter Ricardo Arjona.

Luis Argueta is the first and only filmmaker to be awarded (2015) Guatemala’s Orden del Quetzal in the degree of Grand Officer, the highest honor given by Guatemala. Argueta, is the recipient of the 2019 Harris Wofford Global Citizen Awardfrom the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA),

Argueta’s series of films on immigration -- abUSed: The Postville Raid (2010), Abrazos (2014), and The U Turn (2017) -- brings into sharp focus the resilience of immigrants, their struggle to succeed often against impossible odds as well as their contributions to their countries of origin and to American society. abUSed: The Postville Raid tells the story of the largest single site immigration raid in the history of the US. Abrazos, follows the journey of 14 U.S. Citizen Children from Minnesota to Guatemala to meet their grandparents for the first time. The U Turn, tells how a group of immigrant workers, with the courage to break the silence and the solidarity of a community, transformed their lives.

Argueta is currently researching a film/podcast project about migration pressures, patterns, return migration, and reintegration of returning migrants in Mexico the Northern Triangle. He is also developing a film project about illegal adoptions in Guatemala and working on a film about the effects of family separation on US Citizen children. His films can be viewed online at New Day Films, Kanopy and www.LuisArguetaA.com