Directors/Producers: Florencia Krochik, Theo Rigby
Description:
The film follows five years in the lives of Jeanette Vizguerra and Ingrid Encalada Latorre, both of whom have chosen to enter sanctuary at local churches, rather than report to ICE to be deported. Once they enter sanctuary, they physically do not leave the church grounds until they attain legal status, a process that can take years.ICE is currently practicing a ‘sensitive locations’ policy, which dictates not to enforce deportations in houses of worship and creates a temporary refuge for immigrants facing deportation. In the film, we see these two mothers organizing and activating the mainly white faith communities who are grappling with the idea of how to put their power, privilege, and faith into action to support their undocumented sanctuary guests.
Biography:
Florencia Krochik’s past work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Women in Film and Film Independent. Florencia has tied her personal experiences as an immigrant into her career as a filmmaker. Her first feature documentary film, The Rest of Us, followed the lives of a group of undocumented youth over an eight year period. For the past decade, Florencia has directed world-renowned livestream broadcasts and branded content in the Action Sports sector for prolific properties with Bear Grylls, Tough Mudder and the US Open of Surfing. She has directed commercials and digital shorts focusing on the stories of underrepresented communities, including campaigns for Doordash, Target and Ebay.
Theo Rigby has been creating stories focusing on the immigrant experience in the U.S. for over the last decade and is the founder of iNation Media. Theo directed and shot Waking Dream, a six-part series following a diverse cast of young undocumented people with DACA permits. Theo also directed Immigrant Nation, a series of short films about immigration in the U.S. including The Caretaker, The Mayor, and Marathon, as well as an online storytelling platform, and series of live storytelling events. Immigrant Nation has been showcased in the New York Times, POV and Cannes Film Festival. His film, Without Country, won a Student Academy Award, has screened in over 30 film festivals, and was nationally broadcast on PBS’ Independent Documentary Series, POV.
