Nicole Mejia’s A PLACE IN THE FIELD: Santa Barbara Film Festival Review: us through a veteran’s redemptive journey back to himself
Part of Mejia’s goal in making the film was to represent the Latino veteran point of view, using magical realism and other cultural touchstones. The result feels nonetheless universal, though the coyote metaphor that reoccurs feels specific. In addition to being desert creatures who howl, coyotes are also symbolic of tricksters, and the nickname for folks who smuggle migrants across borders. Without spoiling, those meanings all come into play.