In Texan communities along the Rio Grande River, there is a vibrant mixture of Spanish Catholicisim and Indian mysticisim. For hundreds of years various saints and religious figures have made their appearances to a receptive public. This film takes a respectful look at the current manifestations of these symbols of faith and the people who hold them dear. The filmmakers, one of whom is of Mexican descent, set out for the border to witness these phenomena for themselves. Paulita Rivera discovered the face of Jesus in a tortilla she had made. Soon the tortilla was encased in plastic and revered for its healing qualities. Another Texas town boasts the Shrine of Saint Camaro where a religious silhouette suddenly appeared on a Chevrolet. Believers gather there every day to pray for miracles. In Brownsville stands the Madonna Tree whose bark displays an image of the Virgin. People believe she cures their aliments. In these border towns there is an abiding faith in spiritual forces just as their Indian ancestors saw divinity in their daily surroundings.
MUNDO MILAGROSO forms part of a documentary series on contemporary Mexican-American culture. »El alma del pueblo« – The soul of the people. The series grew out of the life’s experience of the project producer and director, Monica Delgado. The great-granddaughter of immigrants from Mexico, Delgado was raised in a hybrid culture that combined elements of Native American, Mexican and Anglo-American cultures. Growing up in a predominantly Latino community in California’s Salinas Valley, Delgado saw only few representations of her culture in the media. Of those images she saw on television or in the movies, few seemed to be accurate and most came from the point of view of people outside the culture. As a result, Delgado began researching the history and culture of her own family to try to understand the Mexican-American experience for herself. What she found was not the stereotypes on television, but rather a vibrant culture deeply tied to both the history of Mexico and the United States.
The experience inspired Delgado to combat the underrepresentation and stereotyping of Mexican-Americans in the media by documenting her own culture in film.
