"Still Living Undocumented," the latest in CCNY education professor Tatyana Kleyn’s film trilogy on the plight of undocumented youth in New York and return migration between the US and Mexico, premieres on March 20.
Continuing her advocacy for undocumented youths, City College of New York education professor Tatyana Kleyn presents her latest co-production, "Still Living Undocumented: Five Years Later." It premieres March 20 at a special screening, 6 – 7:30 p.m. at City College’s Aaron Davis Hall, that includes a panel discussion.
Liz Robbins, the New York Times Metro immigration reporter, will moderate the discussion on the documentary produced and directed by Kleyn and shot by independent filmmaker Ben Donnellon.
In addition to Kleyn and Donnellon, panelists include:
- Farah, a member of The CCNY Dream Team;
- Irving, CCNY Class of 2012 (BS, bilingual childhood education) and Class of 2018 (MS, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages);
- Jacki, CCNY Class of 2009 (BS, bilingual childhood education) and Class of 2012 (MS, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages);
- Jong-Min, an undocumented New Yorker.
Irving, Jacki and Jong-Min appeared in "Living Undocumented: High School, College and Beyond,” one of Kleyn’s widely acclaimed earlier films. Her other documentary was, “US. Una Vida, Dos Países.”
Other speakers at the screening include Rebeca Vargas, CEO of the US-Mexico Foundation and film artist M Erazo, a CCNY graduate and DACA recipient. The screening is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Although she has no formal filmmaking training, Kleyn, the director of Bilingual Education and TESOL Programs in CCNY’s School of Education, uses multimedia for her research and advocacy to great effect.
“Una Vida, Dos Países” and “Living Undocumented” have both received numerous screenings across Mexico and the United States to receptive audiences, including educators, students and mainstream viewers.
“The impact of the films has been amazing,” noted Kleyn, who is also faculty advisor to CCNY’s Dream Team. “Each film is an education tool and has an accompanying curriculum and resource guide for educators to implement and share with their students.”
Through her films Kleyn is making research public. By using the medium of film, she is taking issues beyond academia and presenting them to a wider audience.
About “Still Living Undocumented"
In 2012 “Living Undocumented” captured the realities of undocumented youth in New York City. At the same time the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was announced and drastically changed the lives of some of the people in the film. Five years later DACA is in jeopardy. “Still Living Undocumented” follows three individuals from the first film to see how DACA has impacted some of their lives and left others outside of its reach.
About The City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. Today The Chronicle of Higher Education ranks CCNY #2 among public colleges with the greatest success in ensuring the social mobility of our student body; at the same time the Center for world University Rankings places it in the top 1.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight professional schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.