Thursday, Feb 19
6:30 PM Reception
with light refreshments
7:00 PM Screening

Annie May Swift Hall – Auditorium
1920 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208
Link to interactive campus map. Complimentary parking in the open air lot after 4pm. Free and open to the public.

Short Films by Paloma Martinez and Elivia Shaw

As the effects of current U.S. immigration policies loom large, filmmakers Paloma Martinez and Elivia Shaw use intimate storytelling to humanize broader social questions. This program showcases the new short documentary Ricky Leaves by Paloma Martinez, Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio/Television/Film, and a special sneak preview of Breathing Room by award-winning Bay Area filmmaker Elivia Shaw, who also edited Martinez’ Ricky Leaves.

Ricky Leaves (26 min)
Director: Paloma Martinez
Ricardo Martinez, the filmmaker’s brother, is getting ready to live independently and move out of his childhood home at 27. As their parents prepare to return to their native Mexico, the two siblings watch their unearthed childhood home movies for the first time. What they find is different from what they remember.

Breathing Room (18 min)
Director: Elivia Shaw
In the heart of California’s Central Valley—the region that feeds the nation—a team of Mexican doctors fights to provide essential care for a community caught between environmental hazards and inhumane immigration policies. As the camera gently observes culturally sensitive interactions between physicians, pregnant mothers, and young patients, the film reveals how environmental exposures, barriers to health care access, and the constant threat of immigration enforcement generate stress and anxiety that impact both patients and doctors’ well-being.

Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.