Ep 7: DACA, The Sanctuary Movement, and stories of the immigrant experience with Theo Rigby
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This week, we explore the immigrant experience in the United States through the lens of film and storytelling with director, cinematographer, and interactive storyteller Theo Rigby. We begin with Rigby’s film Waking Dream, which follows 6 young undocumented people with DACA permits over two years and highlights how they navigate their documentation status in their day to day lives. We then explore Sanctuary Rising, a film about two families staying together in the face of deportation and the communities of faith that accompany them through sanctuary. We discuss a number of topics including the complexity of legal status, the challenge of the term “the American Dream”, and what it means to be an ally working alongside undocumented and mixed status communities.
Resources
Watch the first episode from Theo Rigby’s Waking Dream. Learn more about Theo’s work at iNationMedia.
Guest
Theo Rigby is a director, cinematographer, and interactive storyteller based out of San Francisco. He 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 recently finished Waking Dream, a short documentary series about young undocumented people with DACA permits that was funded by ITVS and distributed on the IndieLens Storycast Youtube channel. He is currently in production on Sanctuary Rising, a feature documentary about the faith-based Sanctuary movement. Theo’s project, Immigrant Nation, is 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 on the New York Times, nationally broadcast on POV, shown at Ellis Island, the 2014 New York Film Festival, and 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The project received a MacArthur Documentary Film grant, as well as a Tribeca Institute New Media Fund grant. His film, Sin País (Without Country), won a Student Academy Award, has screened in over 30 film festivals, and was nationally broadcast on PBS’ Independent Documentary Series, POV, in 2012. Theo graduated with a M.F.A. in Documentary Film from Stanford University and before making films was an award-winning photojournalist working for major newspapers and magazines around the world.
