
5:34 am | Monday, June 24th, 2013 Jose Antonio Vargas. AP WASHINGTON, D.C.—“To be honest, this was not the film I sought out to make,” journalist Jose Antonio Vargas explained. He wanted to make a film about young people like him who grew up American but are undocumented. “But after sending a film crew to the Philippines to document my own mother, whom I haven’t seen for almost 20 years, the film took a different turn—I didn’t want it to go there but it had to go there.” “Documented,” a deeply personal story of Vargas’ own journey to the US as an undocumented immigrant, had its world premiere here June 21 at the American Film Institute’s documentary festival (AFI Docs), America’s leading showcase for documentary film. With immigration reform dominating the agenda in Capitol Hill these days, immigration reform advocates hailed the 90-minute documentary—written and directed by Vargas himself—as timely and relevant. This “journey inward as he reconnects with his mother” offers a firsthand glimpse on how a broken system has profoundly affected the lives of 11 million human beings, tearing families apart, says Frank Sharry, an immigrant rights champion who has been at the center of every major legislative and policy debate related to immigration for many years. “The film shows that at its core, our national debate is not about policy or politics but about our own morality and humanity as a people. It opens up hearts and minds and, hopefully, the possibility that we may yet solve Read More …