Jose Antonio Vargas' Compelling Immigration Doc, 'Documented' Hits NYC & LA Theaters Before CNN Films' TV Release [TRAILER]
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas continues to shed light on the need for immigration reform through his powerful documentary, Documented, which will be released in select New York and Los Angeles theaters prior to its television broadcast on CNN.
This exciting turn of events will also qualify the film for Oscar consideration.
Documented will be released theatrically and digitally by Vargas' nonprofit, Define American media and culture campaign, along with BOND/360, in New York at the Village East Cinema on May 2 and in Los Angeles at the Landmark Regent on May 9. It will then air on CNN in the summer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The compelling film takes audiences on a journey following Vargas' life after he won the Pulitzer Prize for his writing with the Washington Post on the Virginia Tech shootings, and after he "came out" as an undocumented American in a piece for New York Times Magazine.
In Documented, Vargas captures his two-year tour of the country ("despite the danger of boarding a plane without an American visa or passport) speaking openly about what it means to be undocumented in the U.S., particularly to be a DREAMer, who came to America as a child and is stuck in legal limbo with no options for a path to permanent residency or citizenship," The Kapor Center points out.
"Jose skillfully weaves into the film's tapestry his own familial relationships, particularly his struggle to reconnect with his mother, whom he has not seen in 20 years. Even when the DREAMers score a victory in 2012 with Obama's Deferred Action Program that allows many children of undocumented immigrants who came to the US before the age of 16 to obtain legal status, work, and receive temporary protection from deportation, this does not apply to Jose because he is 31 and the cut-off age is 29."
Besides his notable works from the Washington Post, Vargas landed the cover of TIME Magazine, he profiled Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg for The New Yorker, and Politico named him one of "50 Politicos to Watch," among many other notable achievements throughout his stellar career as an undocumented immigrant.
The journalist and filmmaker is also the founder of "Define American," a non-profit organization that seeks to elevate the conversation about immigration. He grew up in the United States, the only place that he defines as home, and yet he lives with the reality that in an instant, his life could dramatically change if he were to be deported.
"I am an American. I just don't have the right papers," says Vargas, who was born in the Philippines and was sent to the U.S. by his mother at the age of 12 to live with his grandparents and have a "better life."
Back in November, CNN Films acquired the North American rights to Documented. Since then, CNN has invested heavily in its CNN Films division, of late, THR points out.
"As a newcomer to America who learned to 'speak American' by watching movies, I firmly believe that to change the politics of immigration and citizenship, we must change culture-the way we portray undocumented people like me and our role in society," Vargas told THR. "I am thrilled to be working with CNN, Tugg and BOND/360 to share my story on screens around the country and remind people that when we talk about immigration, we are talking about real people and their families."