Si Pudiera Quedarme / If I could stay

What does it mean to fight for the right to stay home with your family?

Join award-winning filmmaker Theo Rigby for a screening of Si Pudiera Quedarme / If I Could Stay, followed by a conversation with Rigby and a special guest.

Filmed over five years, Si Pudiera Quedarme is an intimate and moving portrait of Jeanette and Ingrid, two undocumented Latinx mothers who enter sanctuary in Bay Area churches rather than face deportation and separation from their families.

As the women navigate extraordinary uncertainty, they organize, advocate, and build relationships with faith communities standing alongside them. Their stories illuminate the courage of families confronting the immigration system while exploring questions of sanctuary, allyship, power, faith, and what it means to truly belong.

At the center of the film are Jeanette and Ingrid themselves—not simply as people facing deportation, but as leaders claiming their voices and mobilizing communities around them. Their journeys offer a powerful story of resilience, family, and the determination to create change.

Following the approximately one-hour film, stay for a conversation and audience Q&A with filmmaker Theo Rigby and a special guest.

Suggested donation $5-$10. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Theo Rigby is an award-winning San Francisco-based director, cinematographer, and interactive storyteller whose work has focused on the immigrant experience in the United States for more than a decade. He is the founder of iNation Media and the creator of projects including Waking Dream and Immigrant Nation. His films have been featured by The New York Times, broadcast nationally on PBS's POV, and screened at Ellis Island, the New York Film Festival, and Cannes Film Festival. His film Sin País (Without Country) received a Student Academy Award. Rigby holds an MFA in Documentary Film from Stanford University and previously worked as an award-winning photojournalist.

This event is presented in conjunction with Belongings: What We Bring, What We Leave Behind, on view September 4–October 4, 2026, at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum. The exhibition explores migration, memory, and belonging through the treasured objects and personal stories that connect us across generations.

Belongings: What We Bring, What We Leave Behind is made possible through the generous support of California Humanities through its Connecting California grant program. We are also deeply grateful to our community partners and sponsors, including the North Bay Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition, Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League, Petaluma Arts Center, Life on Art, Zimbabwe Cultural Exchange Project of California, El Día de los Muertos Petaluma, Bolca Avia, Chelsea Antiques, Café Puente, Rustic Bakery, Quality Inn Petaluma, and all of the organizations, volunteers, artists, and community members whose collaboration has brought this exhibition to life.