Santiago Esteinou

The Freedom of Fierro

After 40 years of wrongful imprisonment on death row, César is finally released and must rebuild his life. Having spent nearly his entire life in the Polunsky Unit, a prison known for its extreme isolation, he arrives in Mexico ready to embark on a journey of healing. Confronted with his own limitations and the challenges of a new beginning, César is resolute in his quest to discover what true freedom means.

The Years of Fierro

This documentary tells the story of César, the oldest Mexican prisoner on death row in the United States. César has waited for his execution date for more than 30 years, always insisting that he is innocent. Los años de Fierro is a reflection on justice, imprisonment, punishment, guilt and brotherly love, through the eyes of César and his bother, Sergio.

The Woman of Stars and Mountains

Rita Patiño, an indigenous woman from Mexico, was found by a human rights organization inside a Kansas psychiatric hospital, where she had been involuntarily confined, for 12 years, despite the fact that the hospital authorities were never able to determine who was this woman, where did she come from, or what language she spoke. After the consequences of confinement and medical negligence, Rita returned to Mexico, where she lives with Juanita, her niece, and primary caregiver, in a context of precarious economic possibilities. A moving portrait of the lives of these two Tarahumara women, questioning the multiple forms of racism and discrimination that indigenous women in Mexico and the United States face.