Austin Filmmakers' Short Film 'An Uncertain Future' Chronicles Immigrant Anxiety

AUSTIN, TX — A short film by a pair of Austin-based filmmakers that debuted Thursday documents the angst experienced by undocumented immigrants and their loved ones amid a current political climate seeking to sweep migrants from the U.S.

"An Uncertain Future" documents the lives of two women who—were it not for the current political timbre ushered in with the Donald Trump administration—should be in the throes of an unfettered happiness and hopefulness of any expectant mother. But with Trump-mandated crackdowns on undocumented immigrants, their joy is tempered with anxiety and worry about their families' future.

Ruth Guzman has been in the U.S. for 21 years, raising three other U.S.-born children with her husband, who also is undocumented. Yet fearlessly, despite her citizenship status, she attends rallies at the state Capitol calling for a reversal of the current immigrant crackdown while assuring her children that, should she and their father be deported, their legal resident grandfather will be there to feed them and take them to school, she says in the film.

Cristina Tzintzun is a first-time mother, and no stranger to the front lines of the immigration debate. Formerly the head of the Austin-based Workers Defense Project that advocates for immigrants, Tzintzun also worries deportation while in the midst of her pregnancy. But the U.S.-born activist isn't worried about her own freedom of movement but that of her husband, who happens to be undocumented.

The film follows both women as they go about their lives struggling to attain a sense of normalcy for their families—cooking for their children, visiting the doctor's office for a sonogram, gathering with friends and family, preparing for a baby shower. Yet the common thread running through both women's lives is one not only suffused with uncertainty but outright fear.

Patch interviewed the directors of "An Uncertain Future," Chelsea Hernandez and Iliana Sosa, about their film, which went live on Thursday. It's part of a short film series called "Our 100 Days" examining pockets of America following the period since Trump's inauguration. Laura Poitras of Field of Vision served as executive producer for the series while Stanley Nelson of Firelight Media led the role of media partner.

The film directors told Patch they sought to humanize the plight of the undocumented immigrant at a time when Trump loyalists follow his lead in condemning them as a monolithic malignancy rather than seeing them as fellow human beings sharing the same dreams and aspirations as theirs.

If recent mass deportations of immigrants are but an abstraction to their detractors—a sycophantic ideal among the president's most ardent supporters—the film deconstructs the conceptual with an all-too-real glimpse into the day-to-day reality of their uncertain futures, a grim realization that at any moment they could be torn from their families.

"I thought it was interesting to have that sense of fear as an American that most people think only affects the undocumented," Hernandez said, referring to Tzintzun's plight. "It was the rise of Trump, and just the rhetoric that Mexicans and immigrants are criminal and rapists," she said in explaining her early motivation for directing the movie. "I don’t see that in my community, and was very hurt by that sentiment as well."

Trump launched his presidential campaign by labeling undocumented immigrants as rapists and criminals while vowing to mass deport, a message that resonated with a wide swath of the electorate. Since then, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has bolstered its deportation efforts—focusing not only on those with felonies as they initially assured, but members of the community that have no criminal records but simply in the U.S. seeking better opportunities.

Sosa, a first-generation American, struck a more defiant note. Even in the midst of the current climate, she sees the film as galvanizing: "Many times, when people think of immigrants, they think of people in the shadows and living in fear. But the truth is, there's strength in numbers."

The heightened calls for deportations come from a segment of the population fearful as they see the country changing and becoming more diverse, a frustration to which Trump has given voice, Sosa suggested.

"I think there's a fear, honestly, among white Americans who are seeing their country look different now and make immigrants look like the bad ones," Sosa said. "But the reality is we're not going anywhere."

The filmmakers were gratified to see that Jorge Ramos (think of him as the Latino Walter Cronkite) posted a link to the film on his website on its very first day out on Thursday. Both said they hope to expose the film to a wide swath of viewers in making accessible an issue that has become a faceless one by many mired in political partisanship.

Hernandez issued a warning of sorts for politicians voicing their condemnation of immigrants in light of the ever-growing constituency. She singled out Rep. Matt Rinaldi, a Republican from the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas, who acknowledged having called federal immigration authorities on Labor Day after seeing demonstrators with protest signs acknowledging their undocumented status. His admission sparked a melee within the state Capitol chamber in the waning days of the legislative session that made national headlines.

While the primary aim of her film was "...to show the contributions that immigrants have on our community that people forget," it also serves as a cautionary tale for those overly strident in expressing their anti-immigrant sentiments, she suggested.

"Those sorts of backlashes are going to be remembered among the Latino community," Hernandez said. "There’s a really strong youth movement that I think is remembering this and what politicians are doing," she added, noting Tzintzun's recently launched organization named Jolt Texas that works toward such political empowerment.

The lack of predictability in the current political vibe only adds to the anxiety level among those affected. It was during their filming their subjects that ICE raids in Austin began in earnest, lending unexpectedly added urgency and tension to their narrative. Capitalizing on Trump-bestowed political capital, Texas Republicans then proceeded to ensure passage of Senate Bill 4, a law championed by Gov. Greg Abbott codifying penalties for law enforcement agencies deemed as being too relaxed on deportations under threat of fines and even jail time.

Undeterred, the pair of filmmakers said they plan to continue showcasing the plight of the immigrant with their work. Hernandez is currently working on a documentary focusing on construction workers in Austin building the city's ever-transforming skyline while on edge over the possibility of being deported at any moment. She expects to have the film ready by next year.

Sosa, too, hardly has plans to cower in the face of the ongoing anti-immigrant backlash: "I'm a first-generation Mexican American," she said with palpable pride. "I'm going to keep telling these stories, and I'm not going anywhere."

The short film in accessible for online viewing at either the Fusion or Field of Vision websites. To watch it on Fusion, click here. To view it on Field of Vision, click here. A public screening of the film and an ensuing discussion is scheduled on June 9, hosted by Jolt Texas and Latinx Spaces. The free screening will be staged at Atmosphere Cowork, 2400 E. Cesar Chavez #208, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

>>> Uppermost image: Ruth attends a pro-immigrant rally at the steps of the Texas Capitol building; all stills from "An Uncertain Future" courtesy of the filmmakers