South Arts: Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers | Backside

Join us for a screening of Backside followed by a conversation with the filmmaker, Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana. Southern Circuit screenings are funded in part by a grant from South Arts, a regional arts organization, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about Southern Circuit please visit www.southarts.org/southerncircuit. Screening time: TBD Film Synopsis: Backside offers an intimate portrait of the migrant workers who endure long hours and often dangerous working conditions year-round to prepare polished horses for “two minutes of glory.” With the support of an all Latinx team of talented filmmakers and groom experts, Backside took five years to make. The film peels back the layers of Churchill Downs’ barns (In Louisville, KY), known as the “backside,” patiently revealing the symbiotic relationship between human and animal labor. Across a full racing season, the expertise and grit of the workers are juxtaposed against the wealth and pageantry of the Derby, exposing entrenched disparities of race and class that remain very much a part of the fabric of the United States. In its essence, Backside is an ode—to the working class, and most profoundly, to the immigrant workers who quietly sustain this country. In today’s political climate, immigrants are often dehumanized and blamed for the poverty, violence and declining living conditions in our country, ills we did not create. Backside invites viewers to look beyond these incendiary words, to meet the people whose stories are rarely told. It asks audiences to witness their lives, their dignity, their resilience—and, in doing so, to reflect on the vital role immi-grants play in our communities. About the filmmaker: Raúl is a Mexican immigrant filmmaker, cinematographer and multimedia creator traversing borderlands and migrant trails. His work intersects narrative fiction, participatory filmmaking, and visual ethnography to explore themes of belonging, alienation and the concept of “home.” Raúl’s films include “Backside” (2025 Tribeca / FICM, 85min.) a feature film about the migrant workforce behind the Kentucky Derby, exploring the relationship between the thoroughbred horses and those who care for them; “Border South” (2019 Sheffield / FICG, 84min.), which follows the clandestine migrant routes from southern Mexico to the U.S.-Mexico border; and “The Stars are the Same” (2025 Aspen ShortFest 12min.), which focuses on the experiences of an Indigenous Mayan elder who fled war-torn Guatemala for southern Colorado. His films have screened worldwide including at the Tribeca Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, the Aspen ShortFest, the Margaret Mead Film Festival, MASS MoCA Museum, the Guadalajara International Film Festival, and the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), among many more. His work has received support from the Princess Grace Foundation, The Ford Foundation, the LEF Foundation, ITVS, Catapult Film Fund, the Jerome Foundation, and the Sundance Institute, among others. Raúl is a Firelight Media Documentary Lab Fellow, a New America National Fellow, a Creative Capital Awards Artist Fellow, and a Guggenheim Fellow. Limited Capacity RESERVE TICKETS NOW