30 May BORDERLAND coming soon to you
Gabriela Castañeda talks with Pamela Yates, Paco de Onís and the audience, after the sold out screening of Borderland at the DCTV Firehouse Cinema (photo: Steve Lawrence)
BORDERLAND | The Line Within premiered this month in New York City. And thanks to you, we quickly sold out all the screenings at the DCTV Firehouse Cinema. There were long conversations and strategizing around organizing after the film where we were joined by the protagonists on a panel moderated by Yasmine Farhang of the Immigrant Defense Project.
As immigration becomes one of the most consequential debates on the national stage, it is being used as a gateway to justify authoritarian rule. Conservative forces seeking to influence government policy have created a roadmap for mass deportation of immigrants including the creation of deportation centers akin to the Japanese internment camps of WW2 and the hyper-militarization of the southwest border. This plan seeks to remove millions of the undocumented who are essential workers in our economy and welcome members of our communities.
The immigrants at the center of BORDERLAND are intent on building a movement in the shadow of the growing border industrial complex. As they collectively organize, they ask us to join them in solidarity so that together we can become strong, and welcome newcomers to this country.
How to see BORDERLAND
Kaxh Mura’l in Borderland at the DCTV Firehouse Cinema premiere. Photo: Skylight
We’re building a robust outreach and distribution plan for BORDERLAND across the U.S. and beyond. You can also host a screening of the film at any time – sign up here! Join us some upcoming screening events:
- Sag Harbor Cinema, Sag Harbor, NY, June 9, 2024 | We will be there for a conversation following the screening, moderated by Wendy Keys. Tickets will be available soon.
- DCTV Firehouse Cinema, NYC, September 13-19, 2024 | Q&As with us and protagonists to follow each screening. Tickets will be available later this summer.
- Arthouse cinema tour, multiple cities across the U.S., September and October | We will be in person at each stop, with protagonists joining us, for conversations at each cinema. Details soon to be announced.
We will be conducting virtual private screenings for our outreach and impact partners. So if you’re part of a national, statewide, or local organization fighting for immigrant rights or working to counter the toxic narrative around immigration, please contact us.
Welcome Sue Gunawardena Vaughn to the Skylight Board
We met Sue when she worked with the Human Rights Initiative at Open Society Foundations. She was our program officer, who was a true partner with us in making our cinematic and human rights work much more effective and far reaching. Sue is an accomplished grantmaker, connector, coalition builder, campaigner, strategist and movement cultivator with international experience.
Sue previously worked at Amnesty International as the Director of the Global Campaign to Abolish the Death Penalty. She holds a Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas in Austin. We welcome Sue’s active participation in the impact campaign for Borderland.
“As a human rights activist and a Brown immigrant woman in the US, I cannot recommend this film more highly. Pamela Yates and her amazing team skillfully capture the poignant human stories and the bureaucratic Kafkaesque complexities that are at the heart of our current dystopian immigration system. Go watch it and be inspired into action!” – Sue Gunawardena Vaughn
Spotlight on NISGUA
The Caba Caba family outside their home in Ilom, Guatemala from Granito Photo: Dana Lixenberg
It’s really hard to understand and get fact based news about what is happening in Guatemala. Yet NISGUA, the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala, has over 40 years of experience building trusted relationships in country and across borders. They have been an invaluable source in our human rights cinema work. Please consider supporting the important work of NISGUA alongside the Guatemalan communities that fight for self-determination, historical memory and transitional justice.
From May 15 through May 31- every donation NISGUA receives, up to $40,000, will be matched dollar for dollar by a group of committed donors. Donate here.
