El Poeta

Premieres: Friday, May 1, 2015 on PBS Co-director/Co-producer: Kelly Duane De la Vega & Katie Galloway El Poeta tells the story of renowned Mexican poet Javier Sicilia who ignited an international movement for peace after the brutal murder of his 24-year old son, collateral damage in a drug war that has left more than 70,000 dead since 2006.

LPB/PBS National Broadcast

After his only son is murdered – collateral damage in the Mexican drug war – a mystic poet becomes a modern-day Odysseus, launching an international crusade to save his country before returning to his hometown. EL POETA reinterprets the “hard news” horror story of the Mexican drug war as a deeply personal, poetic and even hopeful one, tracing Sicilia’s path from poet and father to movement leader and international symbol of grief and redemption.

FILM TEAM

Directed, Written and Produced by Kelly Duane de la Vega & Katie Galloway
Produced by Nefertiti Kelley Farias
Edited by Ken Schneider

“It's about the force of personality, the authority of loss and the memory of a time when, says Sicilia, "we had a horizon toward which to move. Dramatic, inspiring 'El Poeta' targets Mexico's War on Drugs”
Robert Loyd, Los Angeles Times