“So what are a you now? Like a gangster or what?”, asks Mateo with a smirk on his face. Juan keeps on walking, trying to look tough and trying not to disobey his brother’s orders not to hang out with who has once, no just his best friend, but his “hermano”. The title of this short film by Timur Bootzin refers, of course, to the Spanish word for brothers, a word that immediately sets the film in a Spanish-speaking community in Los Angeles county, but which ends up being somewhat ironic.
@hermanosshortfilmThe film starts with a car chase sequence that has two rival gangs facing each other. Ultimately, both gangs drive away from the fight when a woman and a baby inadvertently stand in the middle. We then see two small kids running towards a soccer field where they swear a BFF oath declaring their undying friendship.
When they become teenagers, Juan and Mateo's lives are hopelessly entangled in the “thug life” we’ve grown tired of hearing about and seeing in films, and we soon find out Mateo’s brother has just come out of prison. Juan’s brother, however, belongs to the rival gang and forbids him from seeing Mateo again, lest he reveals information that might hurt their side.
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Like a Latino gangster Romeo and Julietbromance, the film ends with a burst of tit-for-tat toxic masculinity when one of the gang leaders orders a raid on his rivals’ headquarters. A shootout starts almost accidentally, leaving nearly everyone dead, including both Mateo and Juan.
The film’s end note of foolish bravado portrays something like an uncontrollable desire to kill that likens the people in gangs to animals with a killer instinct rather than humans with the ability to think rationally. One can’t help but wonder whether if the film is actually reinforcing reactionary beliefs that hold hispanics as violent people, disregarding complex social, racial and, most importantly, class issues particular to American society, therefore falling right into the trap laid by Trump, Fox News, and like-minded white supremacists.
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Yet Bootzin, who was a well-intentioned seventeen year-old filmmaker at the time, finds solace in the fact that viewers have seen their lives reflected on the film. Some Youtube users have resorted to leaving their own stories on the comments section, seemingly driven by a profoundly cathartic sentiment. Funky_bottoms11says: "I remember growing up during the 70’s with my childhood best friends and us thinking we would be friends forever too. Then came the 80’s and gangs and we would be forever torn apart. Many went to jail and others died from the hands of the same people we sat ate dinner with, spent the night at each other’s homes and watched Saturday morning cartoons. What a shame." Other users have reflected on the fact that "30 years on, nothing has changed."
It's precisely this human aspect of the film which Bootzin goes to great lengths in showing with Hermanosportraying the community as a whole. Children and teenagers play soccer in the neighborhood’s field, women take strolls with their babies, and mothers cook tacos for their sons while they all hang out drinking some beers and thinking about raising a family. All of this amid a violent order. The stories they tell, for instance, are about fights breaking for the dumbest of reasons. People get caught up in shootouts that are completely alien to them. It's the world many Latinos have grown up in.
@hermanosshortfilmTo help achieve a realistic note, Bootzin cast former gang members and people from the Latino community in LA. "Each cast member has a story to tell," he told CC+. "I feel honored that many of the former gang-members/actors in the film were able to relate to Hermanosand said it reflected their own lives. Many of them told me they felt it was an authentic and meaningful depiction."
Bootzin stresses on the fact that his film has already reached 9 million views on Youtube, certainly an enviable number of spectators any filmmaker would want. But it's the social impact of the film he likes to mostly comment on in. "For me personally, if I am able to change one viewer’s life, then I’ve achieved my goal as a filmmaker." It's no surprise the plot of the film is so relatable that Hermanos"is being used in schools and juvenile detention centers to educate young people into stopping the violence."
Are marginalized Latino communities doomed to be stuck in a rut of never-ending violence? Do they lack the agency to take control of their own social surroundings? Hermanosdoesn't provide an answer, but Bootzin has done extensive research and holds personal ties to Latino communities enough for him to witness a positive call for action coming from Latinos themselves. "Through creating this film - I have met many people living in these environments that are doing many positive things, from rap artists, actors, entrepreneurs, to leaders who are organizing youth programs. Although this film has a dark ending, I have met many people making their communities tighter and showing there’s often a positive way out of any situation."
@hermanosshortfilmBootzin assures he believes "there is always a way out, no matter what," but Hermanosdoesn't even point to the right direction. But should it? The film relies on a message which says that while we do live in a system designed to keep us in stereotypical social environments, individual responsibility also factors in. Neither Bootzin, nor the film can determine how to change. Only we can. And that, ultimately, is what the film is about.
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