‘Southwest of Salem’

Accused of heinous acts, four Latina lesbians in San Antonio fight to prove their innocence. 2016

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Deborah S. Esquenazi, director: The tale of American justice is something that we know is constantly demoralizing people of color, but I also think redemption is part of the American narrative. This is a story about four queer Latinas who made their own community inside a marginalized community. They lifted each other up while those in the state, those in their families, or those in their culture were trying to pull them down. I certainly believe that being women of color they were easy to indict. If they had been four white women, the allegations would have seemed ridiculous to begin with.  Now, what is worth celebrating too is that by the time they were fighting for exoneration, the culture had changed and people were champing at the bit to help them. There’s something extraordinary about that flip.