UIC SPH Professor’s Documentary Selected for Latino Film Festival

The documentary “Tal Como Somos” (Just As We Are), executive produced by UIC SPH Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences Jesus Ramirez-Valles, Ph.D., has been selected for the Chicago Latino Film Festival this April.

As both a feature documentary film and educational tool, “Tal Como Somos” is the result of more than ten years of research by Dr. Ramirez-Valles on HIV/AIDS and stigmatization among Latino gay men and transgender persons across the United States and Latin America.

In a culture celebrated for its rich traditions, close-knit families, and strong faith, being Latino and gay, bisexual, or transgender is often unmentionable—and frequently unforgivable. “Tal Como Somos” shares the realities of living within a culture where daily life means being torn between love as son, brother, father, friend—and stigma, or even exclusion, for being different. This feature length documentary candidly examines the lives of six Latino men, one transgender woman, and the ties that bind them: their families and friends, their culture, religion, education/ upbringing, and their experiences as adults. The film showcases their ordinariness and uniqueness while revealing their human-ness as individuals who live and love, wanting to live and be loved for who they are. Research and production for the documentary - which is in English and Spanish - has been funded by the National Institutes of Health. The concept for this film emerged from Dr. Ramirez-Valles’s book manuscript titled “Compañeros.” Dr. Ramirez-Valles has regularly published in major public health journals and has served on several editorial boards of scientific journals. In addition to a National Institutes of Health grant awarded for “Tal Como Somos,” he has been awarded previous research grants from the NIH, the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as a Golden Apple for excellence in teaching.

Dr. Ramirez-Valles grew up in Mexico, where he began a career in health communications. He directed and produced mass media campaigns on substance use prevention, sex education, and HIV/AIDS. In Mexico, he attended the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. In the U.S., he attended the University of Michigan, where he obtained both his masters and doctoral degrees.

The film’s premiere will be held on Friday, April 11, at 8:30 pm, at the Instituto Cervantes, 31 W Ohio. The second screening is April 15, at 6:00 pm. For more information, click here.

To watch the film’s trailer, go to: http://www.juneteenthproductions.com.