Feeling Home Abroad: Latino Students in Amsterdam

Feeling Home Abroad: Latino Students in Amsterdam is a 10-minute documentary that delves into Latin American students' experiences making a home in Amsterdam. The documentary is an audiovisual ethnography presented as a thematic exploration. It stemmed from the question: How does the construction and performance of the Latino identity through community influence Latin students' adaptation to their new city? Through personal testimonies, it explores the themes of identity, belonging, representation and community abroad. The film focuses on the relevance of the Latino-American Student Association (LASA) as a crucial space for fostering a sense of home and connection with cultural traditions.

To answer the central question, the documentary introduces four main characters: Natalia, Aitana, Sofia and Stephanie. All the protagonists study at the University of Amsterdam, a predominantly European institution with few Latin American people.

Natalia and Aitana are two Peruvian students who co-founded LASA. They shared their insights about the importance of community to create a sense of familiarity and combat feelings of uncertainty in their new country. Their experiences illustrate the emotions of many Latin students who find comfort and connection through a shared culture.

Sofia, a Dutch-Puerto Rican student raised in the United States, emphasises the role of LASA in representation. She expresses how the Latin American community in Amsterdam remains underrepresented, both within the academic and broader cultural setting. For her, LASA becomes a source for finding a sense of home and for authentic representation of the positive and diverse characteristics of Latin America that are often ignored in mainstream narratives.

Stephanie, a Mexican student in the Netherlands, describes her experience celebrating 'El Dia de los Muertos' in Amsterdam. She expresses the significance of LASA in helping Latin students connect in community with their faith and cultural traditions, alleviating the loneliness that often accompanies the physical distance from their families.

In an unfamiliar and different culture from their own, the film shows how Latin American students create a sense of belonging through various methods and processes. Stephanie built an altar for ‘El Dia de los Muertos,’ Sofia and Stephanie cooked dinner from their native countries, and Natalia and Aitana organised and participated in the LASA integration committee event. They all participate in various ways and degrees in the LASA community.

This documentary stands out in the migration and belonging genre as it sheds light on a different migrant experience. Latin American students, despite legal privileges, experience a sense of outsiderhood, making their stories worth telling. The documentary highlights the challenges Latin students face as they navigate their identity in a minority context within the predominantly European landscape.

The film focuses on how the students actively shape their sense of home through their agency. The main characters establish a community with individuals with similar cultures to their own to adapt to the Netherlands. The film's narrative challenges the conventional discourse that advocates solely for assimilation.

This documentary seeks to provide an insider's perspective that neither romanticises nor trivialises the experiences of Latin American students in Amsterdam. It gives an authentic description of the diverse and unique experiences of the protagonists. Instead of concluding with a single narrative, the film presents an assemblage of diverse experiences. It emphasises the individuality and uniqueness of each journey of adaptation and belongingness.