Potato Tacos and the Morenci Mine

We have created six short films documenting our family’s history and their lives in Clifton, Arizona. Each film embraces the collaged elements of oral history through the use of stop-motion animation, hand painted puppets and sets, and digital animation.

Clifton, Arizona--little-known, but important--contains the largest copper mine in North America. The Morenci Mine produces over 900 million pounds of copper a year. Exploiting labor from Mexican refugees and the Native American people living in the region, mining companies established racist border policies and labor laws to produce copper quickly and cheaply. Over the last century and a half the existing populations and new Mexican immigrants in this isolated town have created a unique community that blends Souwthwest White American, Mexican, Native American, and rural cultures. Our family were some of the first Mexican and Hispanized Native settlers of this town and still live there today.

Potato Tacos and the Morenci Mine Trailer

A quick peek at each of the stories we tell in this 6-film project.

six short films

Each short film captures a story about our family. We take viewers on a journey through our immigration story, the magic of nostalgia, and a tour of Clifton as it was 60-years-ago.