DENTON (UNT), Texas - While growing up in California's Silicon Valley, University of North Texas faculty member Carolyn E. Brown knew of the city of Salinas, one hour south, for three reasons — John Steinbeck, a native of Salinas who set many of his famous stories in the town; agriculture; and gang violence.

But when Brown began spending time in Salinas to create a documentary about young adults whose parents were immigrant farm workers, she found "a sense of renewal and pride."

"Young people are surviving and thriving. Without resources, and sometimes undocumented, their future is often uncertain, but their hope and resilience is abundant," said Brown, a senior lecturer in UNT's Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism.

The resulting documentary, "The Salinas Project," was chosen for two film festivals in Washington D.C. — the Greater Washington Immigration Film Festival and the 6th Annual REEL TIME AT GALA. Brown was invited to screen and discuss her film to audiences of both festivals Nov. 29 (Wednesday) by the Mexican Cultural Institute of the Embassy of Mexico. The institute is one of several partner organizations bringing narrative and documentary films on immigration to the festivals.

Brown joined the Mayborn School faculty this past August. She was a faculty member at American University in Washington D.C., when she began work on "The Salinas Project as a follow-up to her first film, "On The Line."

"'On The Line' focuses on the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps on the U.S.-Mexican border in Arizona and the anti-immigration movement in the U.S.," she said.

"The Salinas Project" follows four young adults, ages 18-27, over one year. The youngest had just graduated from high school during the filming, and the oldest had just graduated from college, Brown said.

"I wanted the film to focus on second-generation immigrants and help viewers understand a community that is often mispresented in the media,” she said. 

The film centers on the East Salinas neighborhood known as Alisal, home to much of the immigrant community. "The Salinas Project" brings to light the systematic causes of the problems in East Salinas and "highlights the successes and hopes of this community," Brown said.

"The Salinas Project" premiered in 2014 at the Carmel International Film Festival, and has been distributed by American Public Television.

Brown's other completed documentary is "From the Fields: An American Journey" — a biography of NBC journalist Damian Trujillo, who worked in the fields of the Salinas Valley as a child. Brown learned about his background while researching "The Salinas Project."

She is currently producing two other documentaries that she's hoping to complete in 2018. "La Mujeres: Latina Lives, American Dreams" focuses on the struggles, success and changes facing Latina women living in the U.S. "Rubi: A DREAMer in Trump's America" tells how President Donald Trump's decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program is impacting more than 800,000 young adults who are registered under DACA, through the experiences of 22-year-old Rubi. Brown hopes to discuss and screen "Rubi" at UNT's annual Equity and Diversity Conference in February.