Director: Mike Seely Producers: Mike Seely, John Kane
Description: Exiled tells the stories of two deported US military veterans in Tijuana, Mexico. These honorably discharged “green card” soldiers had already served out sentences for convictions in the US, only to be deported to their birth country. With sweat, tears and grassroots organizing, deported paratrooper Hector Barajas is on a mission to raise awareness about the deported veteran issue, and reunite with his 11-year-old daughter in Compton. Mauricio Hernandez struggles with severe PTSD as a result of his time as a US soldier combat in Afghanistan, but stuck in Mexico, he has no access to the mental health care he is entitled to as a veteran. These soldiers who were willing to die for their country are now fighting to be heard and return to the US, the country they consider home.
Biography: Mike Seely has produced, directed and photographed dozens of cross-cultural and international documentary projects. His film The Most Distant Places about a rural hospital project in Ecuador is in distribution through New Day Films. As a freelance cinematographer and producer, he works with clients such as National Geographic, MTV2, Frontline World, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Facebook and Williams-Sonoma. Recent DP credits include: Hard Earned, Code: Debugging the Gender Gap and Daughters of the Forest. He completed his MA in documentary film production at Stanford University and he received a Fulbright grant to work in Lodz, Poland on a project exploring the Polish documentary film tradition. John Kane is California-based freelance editor of feature documentaries, investigative news, and commercial work. John edited Informant. The feature-length film has won five awards, including the Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC and Best Editing at Salem Film Fest. John also edited The Most Distant Places, a film about doctors working in remote areas of Ecuador and was additional editor on True Son. His clients include Al Jazeera America, National Geographic Channel, Facebook, and Adobe, and his work has twice appeared in New York Times Op-Doc videos. Left in Baghdad, a film he co-directed, was broadcast nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens. John holds an MFA in documentary film and video from Stanford University.
