I’m very excited about the North American release of this wonderful and informative documentary, American DREAMers. If you are not familiar with it, here’s a short description of the documentary, it follows the journey of a group of undocumented youth who publicly come out as undocumented and walk 3,000 miles across America’s heartland—from San Francisco to Washington D.C.—to organize for immigrant rights.
Written by Jenniffer Castillo, who co-directs with Saray Deiseil, and executive produced by Jon Huertas (Castle) and Nicholas Stich (With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story).
I had the great pleasure of talking with the two filmmakers a few months back and you can check it out here. And now we have a great update from them below, enjoy the read.
How excited are you both at this stage of distribution of the doc? Did you think it would happen just over six months from your initial world premiere back in June (2015)?
L-r: Co-directors Jenniffer Castillo and Saray Deiseil
©2015 Angela María Ortíz S
We are absolutely over the moon about getting distribution. Really, it’s truly a blessing that we have been able to get this far and be able to share such an important story that is so dear to our hearts and such a necessary topic to discuss as we inch closer to elections. When we premiered at the LA Film Festival last year, which was magic in itself, we were lucky to have a Sales Agent on our side who was already introducing us to distributors. Documentaries can be tough to sell but fortunately it wasn’t too long of a process. Our Sales Agent connected us with Gravitas Ventures to handle our TV and online distribution and with Tugg who is handling our educational and non-theatrical distribution. With both of them we are able to connect with a wide audience on many platforms and still be able to have the film travel by allowing the community to host screenings thru Tugg’s unique model, which connects each host to a major theater. It’s such a cool way for independent films to get a theatrical showing for a night! There’s more info on our website about it! americandreamersdoc.
Premiere screening and q & a.
©2015 Angela María Ortíz S.
We know you had great stories to tell in American DREAMers, but did you ever expect it to be embraced the way it has been?
We always hoped the film would do well, but of course we were overwhelmed by how well it was received at the LA Film Festival. About 500 people showed up for the premiere-definitely exceeded what we expected. If only there was a pause button to life so that we could have really taken it all in and be able to talk with everyone that night. We do have to say that one of our favorite moments was at the end of the film when the credits were rolling and the crowd began to chant “undocumented, unafraid,” it was a special moment and beautiful to see everyone come together. The LA Film Festival was certainly a great platform to launch the film, and we continue to be grateful for the journey this film is taking. We are so proud of the work these young activists have done for their community, and we hope that they will be able to use this film as an instrument for change as they continue to organize for immigrant rights.
Now many more eyes will see your wonderful work, is it just as overwhelming as your first showing?
I don’t know if we would describe it as overwhelming. I think we are just excited to be able to reach more people. This is such an important topic at such an important time, right before the elections, and we are so happy that everyone can watch the film and learn more about the plight of undocumented youth and their families. The next President of the United States has the power to affect the lives of millions of immigrants, for better or for worse. We hope that at the very least this film can open the eyes of viewers so that they are better informed come November.
And of course, what’s next in the works?
We both work in television and have been developing a couple different projects, which we’re excited to share soon. I know it’s not too much to tell now, but I promise you’ll be the first one we call up when we announce!
Thank you again for taking the time to check in with us! — A.O.
