SI PUDIERA QUEDARME/IF I COULD STAY Film Showing and Conversation

Boulder SURJ is proud to present the sixth event of our Justice Film Series! Join us to view the important film Si Pudiera Quedarme/If I Could Stay, followed by a thought-provoking community conversation. Doors will open at 6PM, and we will be meeting this time, for the first time, at the Arts Hub in Lafeyette. The programming will begin at 6:15 sharp, so plan on arriving early to allow time for parking and finding snacks & seating before the movie starts.

Si Pudiera Quedarme / If I Could Stay is an intimate portrait of two undocumented Latinx mothers who go to dramatic lengths to fend off deportation and separation from their families in the United States. The film follows five years in the lives of two mothers, both of whom have chosen to enter sanctuary at local churches, rather than report to ICE to be deported. Once they enter sanctuary, they physically do not leave the church grounds until they attain legal status, a process that can take years. ICE is currently practicing a ‘sensitive locations’ policy, which dictates not to enforce deportations in houses of worship and creates a temporary refuge for immigrants facing deportation.

In the film, we see these two mothers organizing and activating the mainly white faith communities who are grappling with the idea of how to put their power, privilege, and faith into action to support their undocumented sanctuary guests. The film explores friendships and relationships that develop between Jeanette, Ingrid, and their white allied hosts, while focusing on the learning and unlearning necessary to be an effective ally towards undocumented communities. As part of their efforts to gain legal status, the mothers create multiple campaigns to surmount their legal challenges. They engage their allied church communities as they work to have their voices heard, and shift the paradigm of power to place agency and leadership in the hands of undocumented women of color. With an observational lens, we see the Latinx mothers claiming their power, fighting for respect, and teaching allied communities myriad lessons. One of them emphasizes “Providing Sanctuary is not doing us a favor. This is an act of social justice.”.

We will have two excellent community facilitators to lead conversation after the showing, to be determined as of right now.

This event is FREE, though donations are welcome so that we can contiue our programming into 2025 and keep paying our filmmakers and facillitators while maintaining a zero cost experience and remain open to all who would like to come! If you are able, please donate through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, Longmont Community Foundation.

Host or Publisher Showing Up for Racial Justive Boulder