At first glance, it might not seem like I have a lot in common with Fernanda and Juan in BIENVENIDO JUANITO. Even though their circumstances differ from mine, I can relate to their core feelings - Juan’s sense of being abandoned by his mother and Fernanda’s boundless love for her child. I was 14 years old when I moved away from home, partly supported by social services. My mother had just been diagnosed with brain cancer, and my father plunged into alcoholism. After her brain surgery, my mother became a shadow of her former self, and my father couldn’t take care of three kids alone Throughout my teenage years and early twenties, I worked various jobs to support myself. I've done everything from changing adult diapers on stroke patients to working for tips as a cocktail waitress in NYC. I know what it’s like to have very little money, to feel alone in the world, and to have no parents to fall back on. For several years, I moved through the world, constantly pushing forward. However, everything changed when I became a mother myself. When I received my daughter, it was like a feral animal awoke within me, and I knew in that moment that I would do anything, absolutely anything, to protect her. Becoming a mother also connected me with the child I used to be and the longing I still felt for my mother and father. Although Bienvenido Juanito is a fictional story, it is based on true events that have happened to thousands of families. Consequently, our team felt a massive responsibility to 'get it right' and to accurately portray our story with the utmost degree of accuracy and authenticity. Our creative team is made up of a diverse group of filmmakers, most of whom are from the community depicted in the film. We worked with a primarily Latinx crew, conducted extensive research, and engaged in open, ongoing dialogue with organizations, social workers, and individuals working with separated families. We actively encouraged them to provide feedback on the portrayal of these stories, making any necessary adjustments to the script and production. Without their support, this film would not have been made possible. My mother passed away a few years ago, but I still have a fraught relationship with my father. I still can’t move past my feelings of being abandoned, and I understand how for someone like Juan, those scars, can run deep.

Originally from Uppsala, Sweden, Anna Lo Westlin began her career at Killer Films, Magnolia Pictures and SF Studios, where she served as associate producer on the Academy Award®-nominated film A MAN CALLED OVE; associate producer on the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard Prize winner THE HAPPIEST DAY... and co-producer on BORG MCENROE, which opened TIFF. Her short film LADIES WHO LUNCH premiered at Way Out West, Scandinavia’s largest film and music festival. Whilst at the AFI Conservatory, Westlin received several merit-based scholarships and awards, including the AFI AWARDS Audi Scholarship. Westlin's thesis film Bienvenido Juanito has screened at film festivals across the world, including AFI FEST, and was awarded the DGA Student Film Award Jury Prize 2023. Westlin's upcoming folk-horror short Tithe to Hell was Shortlisted for a YDA 2023.