DIA DE LOS MEURTOS: A DAY OF THE DEAD YOUTH CONFERENCE

I finally finished a short film that had been sitting on my desk longer than I intended.

It documents a “Day of the Dead” youth conference held by the Emmett Stake, where young people gathered to learn about their ancestors, explore family history, share stories, eat together, and end the night with music and dancing. On the surface, it sounds simple. In practice, it turned out to be quietly profound.

What struck me most while filming wasn’t the technology or the activities—it was the way the youth spoke about the people they were discovering. These weren’t abstract names on a screen. They were farmers, immigrants, soldiers, parents, children. Real people who made real choices, often under difficult circumstances, so that someone generations later could be sitting at a table, laughing with friends, learning who they are.

Several of the kids shared short stories they had just learned—small details, really—but those details carried weight. A journey across an ocean. A life started in a new country. A grandfather who served in war. You could see the moment when history stopped being “old” and started being personal.

The conference wasn’t just about looking backward. It was about connection. About realizing that we don’t stand alone in time. And that remembering those who came before us is not a passive act—it’s a form of service. It requires effort, attention, and care. And in return, it blesses the person doing the remembering.

After the learning came food. Then laughter. Then dancing. And somehow, that felt exactly right. Honoring the dead didn’t diminish the joy of the living—it amplified it. Celebration and remembrance existed side by side, just as they should.

This film took longer to finish than I expected because I didn’t want to rush it. Stories like these need space. Silence matters. Faces matter. The voices of the youth mattered most of all.

I’m grateful to everyone who participated, shared their stories, and trusted me to capture the day. This video is a small attempt to preserve something meaningful—a reminder that our roots matter, and that when we take the time to remember, we move forward a little more grounded than before.

If you watch the film, I hope you feel what I felt while making it: a quiet sense that none of us are here by accident, and that honoring those who came before us is one of the most human things we can do.