Soledad 2019
Distributed by New Day Films, 350 North Water Street Unit 1-12, Newburgh, NY 12550; 888-367-9154
Produced by Shefali Milczarek-Desai and Lisa Molomot
Directed by Lisa Molomot
Streaming, 24 mins
College - General Adult
Human Trafficking; Immigration; Prisons
Date Entered: 02/04/2021
Reviewed by Gisèle Tanasse, University of California BerkeleySoledad presents the experiences of one asylum seeker, from her happy childhood, to experiences of sexual violence and human trafficking, to internment in a for-profit detention center in the United States, and ultimately to freedom. Director Lisa Molomot beautifully interweaves expert perspectives from an attorney, translator, psychologist, OB/GYN, and, most importantly, the asylum seeker herself. Haunting and beautiful animations are used to bring life to their descriptions from inside the Eloy Detention Center, visually showcasing the intentionally terrifying design and practices in place.
The film makes the most of its 24 minutes, offering a wide variety of valuable instructional applications, providing unique insights to the injustices piled onto asylum seekers at the hands of CivicCore. Ultimately, while Soledad prevails in her asylum case, we see how much her success is shaped not just by Soledad herself, but by each of the incredible women profiled in this wonderful heartbreaking yet hope-filled documentary. Soledad is highly recommended for a great number of social science courses (including legal ethics, medical ethics, political science/peace and conflict, social work and counseling, incarceration studies, border studies, and gender studies among others).
Awards:
Best Documentary, Global Impact Film Festival 2020; Corazon Latino Award, Festival de Cine Latino Americano
Published and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Anyone can use these reviews, so long as they comply with the terms of the license.