I’M LEAVING NOW
A film by Lindsey Cordero, Armando Croda
Written and produced by Josh Alexander
(Ya me voy, Mexico/USA, 2019, 75 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
The film follows Felipe, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, who has reached a crossroads: after 16 years in Brooklyn, working three low-paying jobs and sending the bulk of his earnings to his wife and children in Mexico, he's decided to return home to the family he hasn't seen in almost two decades. But when he informs them of his plans, he discovers that they've squandered the money, are deeply in debt and don’t want him to return. They need him to stay in the U.S. and continue to earn.
Shot over two years in the heart of Brooklyn’s immigrant community, I’m Leaving Now is a searing and intimate portrait of one undocumented worker on the margins. The film brings a warm humanity to one of the most pressing political issues of our time, without sentimentalizing or trivializing its subject. In allowing the rhythms, emotions and sounds of Felipe’s day-to-day life to drive the story, Cordero and Croda open an impressionistic, cinematic window onto a life that might otherwise remain unseen.
Opens Friday, September 6
Maysles Cinema in New York City
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Opens, Friday, September 13
Facets Cinémathèque in Chicago
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Q&A with directors Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda, and writer/producer Josh Alexander, following the 6:30pm shows on Friday 9/6 and Saturday 9/7. Co-presented by New Latin Wave.
