Directors: Zach Ingrasci, Chris Temple Producer: Jenna Kelly
Description:
Five Years North is the coming-of-age story of Luis, an
undocumented boy in New York City desperate to bring the American
Dream back home to Guatemala. Alone, he struggles to work, study, and
evade Judy—the Cuban-American ICE agent who patrols his
neighborhood. 15-year-old Luis Lopez arrives alone in New York City
after a dangerous journey north. He’s spellbound by the bright
lights of Times Square and the promise of a better life. Over the
next few years, reality sets in as he desperately tries to learn
English, navigate high school, work temporary jobs, and manage
expectations from his parents back home. Working nearby is Judy, a
veteran Cuban-American ICE agent and native New Yorker. Although
Judy’s Cuban parents voice their disapproval of ICE, she feels
grateful to have a stable job with benefits. Under mounting pressure
from the administration, and growing frustration with the shifting
focus away from criminals, Judy decides to follow her own rule book. Five Years North’s unparalleled access and observational
approach makes for a gripping story and valuable entry point to
understanding America’s broken immigration system.
Biography:
Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci are filmmakers and the
founders of Optimist, a non-profit production studio that creates
films with impact. They are best known for directing the feature
documentaries Living On One Dollar and Salam Neighbor.
Their films have been released by Netflix, Amazon Prime, National
Geographic, and The Atlantic. In addition to Five Years
North, they recently directed the short documentary, The
Undocumented Lawyer. Every film they make is accompanied by an
impact campaign to create measurable outcomes. Their projects have
raised over $91.5 million dollars for the films’ causes and have
changed over 275,000 lives.
