A moving and powerful portrait of the life of a poor Mexican American boy and his migrant farm worker family as they struggle to adjust to life in American society. Adapted from the novel (...y no se lo tragó la tierra) written by Tomás Rivera and published in 1971, the film is a feature-length drama produced for AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE, PBS's weekly drama series. The film presented for the first time in theaters and on American television, the perspective of migrant workers as told by one of their own. The author, Tomás Rivera, was himself a migrant worker as a child, and later went on to become the highest-ranking Mexican American in higher education as the Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside. Told through the eyes of Marcos, a twelve-year-old boy, the film emphasizes Marcos' desire to educate himself. Through its many human stories of growing up as a Mexican American, the story exposes the rich cultural traditions which have given shape to life in the American Southwest.

For more information about this topic, check out the following links:

• The Expanding Canon: This educational website gives an overview of Tomás Rivera's novel, ...y no se lo tragó la tierra.

  

Please contact Espinosa Productions for ordering information.

...and the earth did not swallow him (1995)

• National Endowment for the Humanities Production Grant
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting/PBS Challenge Fund Grant
• The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant
• The U.S.-Mexico Fund for Culture
• The Meadows Foundation
• The Summerlee Foundation
• California Council for the Humanities Production Grant
• American Playhouse Production and Development Grants
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting Production Grant
• National Latino Communications Center Development & Production Grants
• Texas Committee for the Humanities Scripting and Production Grants
• California Council for the Humanities Scripting Grants