From Mexico to Northfield, MN: New film reflects on meaning of ‘home’

Maltrata, Mexico.
Maltrata, Mexico, where the majority of Northfield's Mexican population traces its roots.
Courtesy of Cecilia Cornejo

The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival is among the events now cancelled or postponed as Minnesota scrambles to slow the spread of COVID-19.

​One of the films that festival organizers were hoping to highlight centers on the town of Northfield, Minn. “Ways of Being Home” deals with Northfield's surprising and often invisible connection to another small, agricultural community nearly two thousand miles away, in Mexico.

​According to estimates, the majority of Northfield's Latino population is from the town of Maltrata, in the state of Veracruz. ​MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with filmmaker and Carleton College professor Cecilia Cornejo about that connection and “Ways of Being Home.”

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