Movies have long been a huge part of Aguilar's life. When he enrolled at Pasadena City College, his dream was to be a director.In these challenging times, the need for reliable local reporting has never been greater. Put a value on the impact of our year-round coverage. Help us continue to highlight LA stories, hold the powerful accountable, and amplify community voices. Your support keeps our reporting free for all to use. Stand with us today.
But, for several years, Aguilar was an exhausted undocumented film student, helping his coworkers clean out the fryer during the night shift. For a long time, he said, “I was unclear as to what the future held, and I was not feeling particularly positive about it.” “It was always in me to write stories, to create things,” he said. The play, he recalled, was about a man whose boat capsized. The man survived the tragedy, only to find himself on an island that was run by rats.
Because he was under 18, Aguilar gave the answers to his mom and asked her to submit the entry. They won and, for 365 days, they had unlimited access to every Cinépolis branch in the city. Always a star student in Mexico City, Aguilar suddenly found himself struggling to communicate in L.A. He pushed himself to learn English quickly. He signed up for extra tutoring after school and enrolled at Bell High School as a 10th grader.
In 11th grade, Aguilar joined an afterschool filmmaking program sponsored by CalArts. It gave students access to MiniDV Camcorders. For Aguilar, that was significant: It was the first time he got to work with a video camera. For Aguilar, going to community college was also about taking back some agency. “Being undocumented, you don't have control over a lot of things in your life,” he added.
It was also tough to make friends at a campus where most students are commuters. But, with time, he became part of a close-knit group of film students, and he reveled in the chance to be among people who shared his interests.. He learned terms to describe what’s going on in a movie. He had the chance to continue working on shorts.
While scrolling through Craigslist one day, Aguilar spotted an ad for a film writing gig. He submitted his blog posts as writing samples and landed the job. It didn’t pay anything, but it opened the door to screenings before films were released. Aguilar had never had his name on a list. Aguilar at the 95th Academy Awards. "There's power in accessing those elite spaces," he wrote for Variety in 2020. "In stepping on the red carpet at the Oscars, I was in disbelief and thought of myself and the countless young men and women who, like me, have only seen these moments as unattainable dreams."Aguilar knows some things are out of his hands. As a DACA recipient, for instance, he can only travel if he’s granted. The ruling blocks new, first-time applications.
Education Education Latest News, Education Education Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: kgun9 - 🏆 584. / 51 Read more »