In an era where most book tours follow a predictable path—readings, signings, moderated conversations—film director Jorge Xolalpa is doing something far less conventional.
What began as a 25-city U.S. tour for his memoir Ni De Aquí, Ni De Allá: A Soul Suspended Between Two Worlds has quietly evolved into something much larger: a feature documentary in progress, NI DE AQUÍ, NI DE ALLÁ: BELONGING. But this is not just a behind-the-scenes look at life on the road. It’s an intentional, and at times confrontational, exploration of identity in America.
Rather than limiting himself to audiences that immediately connect with his story, Xolalpa has made a deliberate choice—to enter spaces where he is not easily understood.
Xolalpa said:
I didn’t want to stay in spaces where I’m understood. I want to sit across from the people who don’t—and ask why. What is it about my existence that feels threatening? That’s where the real story is.
That question has become the driving force behind the documentary.
The first leg of Xolalpa’s tour took him across major cities in the West, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Fresno. These early stops drew in audiences from immigrant communities, creatives, and readers who saw their own experiences reflected in his work—stories rooted in displacement, identity, and the search for belonging.
But as the tour progressed, so did its purpose.
The upcoming second leg signals a shift—both geographically and emotionally. Xolalpa is expanding into a broader cross-section of the country, with stops in cities like Brooklyn, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, New Brunswick, Washington D.C., Raleigh, Atlanta, Orlando, New Orleans, San Juan, and Anchorage. At the same time, he is intentionally stepping into more unexpected and ideologically contrasting regions, including Nashville, Tennessee; Athens, Alabama; Madera and San Bernardino, California; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and State College, Pennsylvania.
These locations are not arbitrary. They are central to the project’s core question: what does it mean to belong in a country where identity is often politicized, misunderstood, or rejected?
Blending cinéma vérité with raw, unscripted encounters, NI DE AQUÍ, NI DE ALLÁ: BELONGING captures conversations as they unfold in real time—moments that range from connection and curiosity to tension and resistance. The result is not a polished narrative, but a living, breathing portrait of a nation grappling with itself.
In stepping away from his full-time work as a film director to focus on the tour, Xolalpa has effectively collapsed the boundary between mediums. The book is no longer just a standalone work—it has become the foundation for an evolving film, shaped by every city, every conversation, and every encounter along the way.
Xolalpa said:
This isn’t just about promoting a book. It’s about documenting what it feels like to exist in a country where belonging is constantly being negotiated.
Now, following a brief pause, the next phase of the project is set to relaunch with greater scope and urgency—positioning the second leg not just as a continuation, but as an escalation.
And the story won’t stop at U.S. borders.
Xolalpa is already looking ahead to 2027, when the project will expand internationally with planned stops in London, Madrid, Paris, and Berlin. The global rollout signals a broader ambition: to examine identity not just within the American context, but across cultures and continents. Additional international cities are expected to be announced in the coming months.
If the first leg of the tour established the foundation, and the second deepens the inquiry, the international expansion suggests something even larger taking shape—a cross-border exploration of what it means to exist between worlds.
For Xolalpa, NI DE AQUÍ, NI DE ALLÁ: BELONGING is no longer just a documentary. It’s a question—one that he’s asking city by city, conversation by conversation—without a clear answer, but with a willingness to confront whatever emerges.
And in that uncertainty, the project finds its power.