By Lola M\u00e9ndez<\/b><\/p>\n
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Hispanic Heritage Month<\/span> has been honored annually in the United States since 1968 when President Lyndon Johnson first launched it as Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the celebration to last the four weeks from September 15th to October 15th. Hispanic Heritage Month commemorates the histories, cultures, and contributions of Latinx people whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America.<\/span><\/p>\n To celebrate the occasion, we\u2019ve gathered eight must-see documentaries<\/strong> to help gain a better understanding of Latinx culture in the United States. These are films that strongly, in their own ways, address the role of Latinx people in shaping American culture, politics, and economics.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Paper Children<\/i><\/b> (2020)<\/span><\/p>\n This<\/span> documentary<\/span> was produced and directed by Alexandra Codina, whose film <\/span>Monica & David<\/span><\/i> for HBO was nominated for an Emmy. The film showcases a Honduran family\u2019s experience of immigrating to the U.S. and raises awareness about the mistreatment of unaccompanied children by the U.S. government. <\/span><\/p>\n Annually, thousands of Latin American children flee violence to seek asylum in the U.S. This subject is deeply personal for Codina, whose father was part of a mass exodus of 13,000 unaccompanied children from Cuba in 1962, known as “Operation Pedro Pan.”<\/span><\/p>\n