Contact: Alejandra Gonzalez, alejandra@vdlf.org, 262-290-5343
Milwaukee – In advance of the film’s PBS national broadcast premiere this fall, Voces de la Frontera will host a free preview community screeningof The Unafraid, an award-winning feature-length documentary that follows the personal lives of three “DACAmented” students in Georgia, a state that has banned undocumented and DACA students from attending their top five public universities and disqualifies them from receiving in-state tuition at any other public college. The community is invited to participate in this free screening event on September 24th, 2019 at 3:00pm at the Alverno College Laverna Commons. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with local experts and leaders working on immigrant issues in our community.
Shot over a period of four years, The Unafraid takes an intimate look at the lives of Alejandro, Silvia and Aldo and the obstacles they face as they navigate activism, chasing their dream of education, and their and their families’ personal struggles and triumphs. The Unafraid is a unique portrait of growing up both American and undocumented in the United States.
“In-state tuition is an issue that affects DACA-mented and undocumented youth in Wisconsin. It is important to bring this issue to the forefront and discuss how it can impact bright and innovative youth in our state,” says Alejandra Gonzalez, Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) Lead Youth Organizer for Voces de la Frontera and DACA recipient.
The New York Times writes of the three youth featured in The Unafraid, “Their tenacity is inspiring; their struggles disheartening.” The film has received high praise from audiences and judges on the 2018-19 festival circuit, featured as the Closing Night Film at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival and winning the Kathleen Byran Edward Human Rights Award at their premiere at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. At a time when migrant children are being separated from their families and held in squalid conditions in detention centers along the U.S.-Mexico border, this screening event will provide a space for community members to have open, honest, and informed discussion about immigration and the issues raised by the film.
This event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required. Attendees should visit https://www.facebook.com/
ABOUT HOST :
Voces de la Frontera/ Youth Empowered in the Struggle
YES is the youth arm of Voces de la Frontera, a nationally recognized non-profit organization that has been working with youth for many years. YES is a youth-led, multicultural social justice group that works for student, immigrant, and worker rights. YES leaders have been instrumental in the struggles for the DREAM Act, immigration reform, protecting public education and student rights through the Student Bill of Rights, marching with their teachers in 2011 to defend collective bargaining rights, and passing the MPS Safe Haven Resolution in 2017.
For more info and to watch the trailer for The Unafraid, visit www.theunafraidfilm.com.
