“We’re never going to stop”: Jorge Xolalpa on making art while rejecting the "Undocu-" label
How to succeed in Hollywood by making films on your iPhone, refusing to do interviews, and embracing failure.
It takes fearlessness and embracing failure in order to be the kind of cutting edge filmmaker that Jorge Xolalpa has become. What it doesn’t take, of course, are the many labels the media are all too happy to throw on him: undocumented, gay, first-generation. With a deep sigh, Jorge explains in our conversation that being undocumented is “something that I have no control of.”
In a discussion that is half a refusal of the expectations that come with being an “undocu-filmmaker” and half a pep talk for aspiring artists, Xolalpa’s words come from a place of love. Further, this conversation emerges from a deep friendship that becomes transparent as topics circle back to shared moments in traffic years earlier and to shared dreams.
If you missed the first half of our conversation with Jorge, please check it out here.
Alix Dick: You know, I've been thinking about how the things that we hate about ourselves are also the things that help us walk in our purpose. I see that in you: you draw inspiration from the struggles that you go through and the things that you have seen.
Jorge Xolalpa: 100%, yeah.
AD: Do you feel like being undocumented in this country has inspired you to create films?
JX: I don't think being undocumented has inspired me to do anything because I don't think of my status as my identity. It's more of like the masses think that. There's a reason why I chose not to do any more press because it was always in the LA Times, "Undocumented this," AP News, "Undocumented that," CNN, "Undocumented..." They were always missing the point that being undocumented is just like being gay, it's just like being straight, it's just like being smart, stupid, whatever. It's part of who you are, but it doesn't define everything that you are. It's something that I have no control of.
They were always missing the point that being undocumented is just like being gay, it's just like being straight, it's just like being smart, stupid, whatever. It's part of who you are, but it doesn't define everything that you are.
AD: It's something that happened to you, but that's not who you are.
JX: It becomes really exhausting because [the press] talks about it like I can just wake up one day and change it. I can't change it. It's not up to me so I don't want to say that it inspired me. I also don't want to say that it pushed me because my aspirations and my inspirations are completely separate from my status. I will say this, it's pushed me to work hard so that when I meet someone on the street instead of saying, "Oh, you're that Dreamer that made that movie," they'll say, "You're that filmmaker that made that movie."
It’ll happen. I think I have to make amends with that. I have to accept that this is the path that I need to go on at this moment. It's helped me move forward in my career, but that's not everything that I am. I'm more than that.
AD: I love it. And it's funny because we had this conversation two, three years ago-
JX: We did!
AD: ... we were sitting in traffic going to San Pedro, and you were like, "I don’t like it when people say, undocu- this, undocu- that."
JX: I don't. Undocumented. That’s it. I'm undocumented. You don't call someone a gay filmmaker or a straight filmmaker or struggling attorney or an up-and-coming doctor. You don't call people that. You call them what they are and you just stick to it. So, for my last premiere—you were there—I don't know if you noticed, I didn't do press at all.
AD: I know you didn't.
JX: Because it was always like "Undocumented this," "Dreamer that," blah blah. Nope. I went, I greeted the actors. I went around and I went into the [Mann] Chinese Theatre and that was it. I felt like, I'm not going to talk to press because I'm so tired of being all of these titles - undocumented, gay, first-generation, dreamer, I mean, come on. No.
AD: Those labels don’t define your career.
JX: They don’t. My work doesn't define me. You know what defines me? My character, my values, who I am with someone when we’re having a conversation. That's the other thing: I feel like sometimes people just Google me and they're like, "Oh, that's who he is." No, sit down with me. Have a cup of coffee and get to know me because I'm nothing like what people write. It's frustrating … but it's also fun.
My work doesn't define me. You know what defines me? My character, my values, who I am with someone when we’re having a conversation
AD: I love it. I see how you are changing a lot of things for people in this industry like me. You have been helpful in my life, and you inspire me. And for the people like us—who are Mexican and who want to dream bigger -- is there anything that you want to share with them?
JX: Well, first of all, I want to say that the idea of thinking that I'm not going to make it crosses my head all the time. It does. I don't think it'd be normal if I just thought that I'm always going to be successful. It's a balance. But whenever I think about those things, I gather my thoughts and I come back to the purpose which is creating art that will inspire myself to continue creating art.
I'm going to have kids one day and I want them to know that I did everything possible to be able to make films that represent who I am and the world that I aspired to live in eventually… If there's anything I want to say, it’s just believe in yourself. Believe in yourself the same way you believe in others.
AD: Wow.
I'm going to have kids one day and I want them to know that I did everything possible to be able to make films that represent who I am and the world that I aspired to live in eventually.
JX: Believe in yourself the same way you believe in all these other celebrities. Put all that energy into yourself. I know it sounds kind of arrogant sometimes, but I talk with my staff about this all the time. Every Monday we have meetings about what we're going to produce next and what we're going to do and I say this all the time. If you come into my office to pitch something to me and you know it’s not your best then you're wasting my time. Because if you don't believe that your idea is the best idea, then why should I believe that it's the best idea? And sometimes it just starts with a little idea. I mean, again, I'm going to sound like a broken record, but if I had not picked up the iPhone and done that film seven years ago, none of this would be happening right now.
AD: Sometimes we feel like we're not good enough because we don't have all these fancy things. But you made a whole movie on an iPhone and that's-
JX: That was straight out of college. Yeah, I didn't know what I was doing. And I still don't know what I'm doing half of the time. But that's part of life. I think that we spend so much time, we put so much effort in not wanting to fail that we forget to enjoy the process. I want to fail. I aspire to fail because if I don't fail, I'm not learning.
AD: And failing is part of that journey to success, too.
JX: And failure is a success story. I've been rejected from Sundance five times. But I've been to Cannes three times so it's like there's a balance. And ask me if I've ever cared. I don't care. I really don't. All of that is just like vanity bullshit for Hollywood. Doors will open for you if you have these titles, but at the end of the day, my film is not better than anybody else's. We're all different.
AD: That rejection was just a redirection for you: keep doing you. Keep being truthful to who you are. Don’t expect the industry to validate who you are.
Keep being truthful to who you are. Don’t expect the industry to validate who you are.
JX: Stop putting so much effort into making it and finally do it. Stop putting so much effort into not wanting to fail because you want this to be perfect. Stop putting so much effort in your ideas and just start making whatever.
AD: I'm so proud of you and I'm so happy that you never stop. I'm excited for what the future holds for you.
JX: Oh, thank you. We’re never going to stop.
AD: Never, my love. That's who we are.
Propina
Jorge Xolalpa’s first film, Blue Line Station, is streaming online for free:
Take a look at the film that helped start it all, filmed on an iPhone and with zero budget.
And, If you’re new around here, we still want to give you a free postcard. Let us know where to send it! (New postcard? Info here.)