When Yojana fled Guatemala to save her daughters' lives, she believed she was making the right choice. Seven years later, waiting for her asylum claim to be resolved, she's no longer certain. Through her intimate, ongoing journey, this film reveals the failures of the US asylum system and explores what it means to be a mother and friend in the face of bureaucracy and uncertainty.
Clips
Pass: asylum
Participants
Yojana
Participant
Yojana
Yojana is a young mother from rural Guatemala whose promising life pursuing a degree and working at a local bank was shattered by sexual assault and abduction by a gang member. After refusing to sell drugs and prostitute herself, she was repeatedly
...
Yojana is a young mother from rural Guatemala whose promising life pursuing a degree and working at a local bank was shattered by sexual assault and abduction by a gang member. After refusing to sell drugs and prostitute herself, she was repeatedly beaten and raped, becoming pregnant from the assault. When the gang leader discovered her pregnancy, he violently beat her, forcing premature labor. During a hospital visit, Yojana saw her only chance to escape with her newborn daughter, Andrea. Despite attempts to return to normal life, the gang threatened her older daughter, Fernanda, at school, forcing Yojana to flee to the United States seeking asylum, leaving the pneumonia-stricken Andrea behind, a decision that haunts her daily.
Close
Amy
Participant
Amy
Amyis a successful attorney and mother of two in Washington, DC, who was compelled to volunteer at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley during the 2018 family separation crisis. Previously ignorant of immigration law, Amy receives a
...
Amyis a successful attorney and mother of two in Washington, DC, who was compelled to volunteer at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley during the 2018 family separation crisis. Previously ignorant of immigration law, Amy receives a crash-course training to help asylum seekers pass their critical "credible fear" interviews—fifteen-minute sessions that determine whether someone can pursue asylum or face deportation. When Amy meets Yojana during her interview, she's moved to intervene, giving Yojana her card and beginning an unlikely friendship that bridges class, culture, and circumstance.
Close
Fernanda
Participant
Fernanda
Fernanda is Yojana’s older daughter. She fled Guatemala with her mother when she was 8 years old. Now 15, Fernanda is caught between two worlds – the one she left, and the one she is navigating now. She has become increasingly Americanized, but
...
Fernanda is Yojana’s older daughter. She fled Guatemala with her mother when she was 8 years old. Now 15, Fernanda is caught between two worlds – the one she left, and the one she is navigating now. She has become increasingly Americanized, but maintains a digital relationship with her younger sister Andrea through online games and Facetime. Wise beyond her years, Fernanda has learned to take care of herself while her mom works long hours. She worries about her future, though her mother shields her from fully understanding the legal precariousness of their situation.
Close
Team
Gabrielle Ewing
Director
Team
Gabrielle Ewing
Director
Gabrielle produces, writes, and edits digitally distributed web series and short documentaries on a wide variety of topics, including science, social justice, and history. She has worked at NBC, CNN, and National Geographic where her work was part...
Gabrielle produces, writes, and edits digitally distributed web series and short documentaries on a wide variety of topics, including science, social justice, and history. She has worked at NBC, CNN, and National Geographic where her work was part of a package that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Gabrielle graduated with honors in Journalism and Film & Television from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and recently earned a Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell. She is now the Director of Programming at PBS Digital Studios in Washington DC where she lives with her husband and rescue dog. Shes currently directing her first feature length documentary, Credible Fear, about the US asylum system.
Close
Azadeh Nikzadeh
Producer
Team
Azadeh Nikzadeh
Producer
Azadeh Nikzadeh is a Middle Eastern writer, director, producer, and women’s rights activist. Her brand is rarely-heard human rights and women empowerment stories and the misuse of religion to justify violence against women. Her films raise...
Azadeh Nikzadeh is a Middle Eastern writer, director, producer, and women’s rights activist. Her brand is rarely-heard human rights and women empowerment stories and the misuse of religion to justify violence against women. Her films raise awareness of the plight of women's rights in the MENA region and Iran in particular. She speaks and advocates projects on systematic and state-led violence against women and the importance of storytelling and disseminating the real-life stories of women advocates to create global solidarity. She has been a speaker at various events including the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 67th Session and the International Religious Freedom Summit for MENA region at Washington DC.
She wrote and directed award-winning short films such as The Girl Sitting Here, Vida, and X, and produced feature documentaries including The Left Bank and The Credible Fear. She has won multiple fellowships and awards including Women Empowerment Fellowship, Asian Film Academy Fellowship from the Busan International Film Festival, Athena Film Festival Writing Lab, and Honorable Mention at the Charlotte Film Festival Social Justice Films. Her feature script DANDELION is a Sundance Writing Lab and Austin Film Festival Second Rounder.
Azadeh is the founder of Burnt Generation Studios, an intellectual property development, and production company that develops and produces independent films with the mission to create and promote authentic narratives to build grounds for mutual understanding and shifts in the collective perspective of the audiences.
Close
Gabriela Díaz Arp
Consulting Producer
Team
Gabriela Díaz Arp
Consulting Producer
Gabriela Díaz Arp is an independent director and producer passionate about the ways visual language can deepen human understanding and connection.
She has directed and produced a number of independent films, exhibits and interactive experiences,...
Gabriela Díaz Arp is an independent director and producer passionate about the ways visual language can deepen human understanding and connection.
She has directed and produced a number of independent films, exhibits and interactive experiences, as well as co-founded production companies Rabbit Raccoon and Las Palmas Studio. Her work has been recognized by Sundance, Tribeca, Doc Society, BAVC, Studio IX and a variety of other festivals and organizations. She is currently working on her first feature film in her motherland of Puerto Rico. The film, Matininó, tells the story of a multi-generational family of women transforming their experience with domestic violence and misogyny into a science fiction film.
Close
Anna Spelman
Editor
Team
Anna Spelman
Editor
Anna is an Emmy-nominated independent cinematographer and editor based between Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and Istanbul, Türkiye. She is currently directing and producing her first feature film, following a family in North Carolina over the course of...
Anna is an Emmy-nominated independent cinematographer and editor based between Phoenix, Arizona, USA, and Istanbul, Türkiye. She is currently directing and producing her first feature film, following a family in North Carolina over the course of ten years as they learn to support their trans daughter in a transphobic state, country, and world. Anna works with news outlets, independent directors, and NGO's, telling intimate stories that focus on human rights, healthcare, and immigration. She is fluent in Spanish and English, with some knowledge of German and Turkish. She has collaborated with The New York Times, Univision Digital News, TIME Magazine, Al Jazeera Fault Lines, Business Insider, and Blue Chalk Media, among others, and her work has been recognized by POYI, GLAAD, NPPA and the Premio Gabo.
Close
Katherine Castro
Director of Photography
Team
Katherine Castro
Director of Photography
Katherine Castro studied architecture and photography while living in the Dominican Republic and began working in film and TV as a Local 600 Camera Assistant in 2008. She was selected for the inaugural American Film Institute Cinematography
...
Katherine Castro studied architecture and photography while living in the Dominican Republic and began working in film and TV as a Local 600 Camera Assistant in 2008. She was selected for the inaugural American Film Institute Cinematography Intensive for Women in Los Angeles. Her work spans multiple genres, has screened in film festivals such as the Indy Film Fest, the Woods Hole Film Festival & the Asian American International Film Festival, and has taken her around the world.
Close
Cassie Shao
Animator
Team
Cassie Shao
Animator
Cassie Shao is an Animation Artist and a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of Cinematic Arts at USC. She works across fields, including independent films, music videos, explainer videos, experiential
...
Cassie Shao is an Animation Artist and a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of Cinematic Arts at USC. She works across fields, including independent films, music videos, explainer videos, experiential installations, and advertisements. Her films have been officially screened at film festivals and museums worldwide. She also received a MacDowell Fellowship in 2020.
Close
Budget
This section includes information about this project.
Festival journey doc producer independent creative project journey producer award team editing production project creative.
Creative editing creative story editing doc editing film independent award camera camera story.
Grants & Awards
2021DC Arts and Humanities Fund
2021DC Camera Gear Grant
2021WIFV Seed Fund
2022DC Arts and Humanities Fund
2022Mass Humanities “Expanding Massachusetts Stories” Grant
2023DC Arts and Humanities Fund
2023Surdna Foundation Grant
2024DC Arts and Humanities Fund
2025DC Arts and Humanities Fund
2025Mass Humanities “Story Forward” Grant
2026DC Arts and Humanities Fund
Our Ask
Our film is in the perfect position to benefit from your support due to the incredible timeliness of this issue and the clarity of our goal: to complete and release this film before the 2026 midterm elections for maximum impact.
The stakes could not be higher. As immigration has been repeatedly dismissed, radicalized, and weaponized by legislative leaders over the last seven years, our team's dedication to this work has only grown. When we began this film, the asylum system was misunderstood; today, it is closed. If Yojana had arrived in 2025 instead of 2018, she would not have been able to enter the US, let alone pursue asylum.
This film can help initiate a sane, civil conversation about the rule of law and our obligations as a country to people fleeing persecution.