STOLEN DREAMS

Diego, a teenage migrant from El Salvador, fights for freedom as he escapes a detention center in Upstate NY and is confronted with the trauma of his past.

While on the run - Diego struggles with memories of crossing the border, memories of his final moments with his mother and brother, and is confronted by his guilty conscious.

The film tells Diego's story through a present-flashback structure, as he reflects on his past while on the run. Each memory is intimately tied to his present, as he grapples with the emotional weight of his escape and the trauma of his past.

This film was made to create an emotional experience of the immigrant experience to raise awareness and pay tribute to the immigration crisis at the southern border.

My hope is to tell this story with an empathetic lens - a story about family and the trauma from leaving your home to find a new life.

This film aims to bring attention to the emotional experience of immigration and the crisis at the southern border, through an empathetic lens that focuses on the trauma of leaving home and the struggles of family separation.

Our approach was to strive for authenticity - from volunteering at a detention center non-profit organization, to our approach to authentically casting a true El Salvadoran family and a true DACA recipient - I hope this film can help articulate the emotional trauma beyond the migrant crisis.

- Justin Ferrato, Writer / Director

Cast & Crew

Justin Ferrato - Writer / Director / Editor

Bill Nugent - Producer

Daniel Maldonado - Producer

Cast

Diego Mejia

Karen Contreras

Brayan Angulo

Dante Constable

Crew

Jennifer Peralta - Ajemian - Casting Director

Lauren Pruitt - Director of Photography

Reuben Hernandez - 1st Assistant Director

Mikhail Kniazev - 1st Assistant Camera

Ari Rothschild - Colorist

Alon Wolman - Sound Mixer

Josh Stark - On set sound

Patricia White - Production Assistant

Walker Hare - Gaffer Production Assistant