The Long Ride won Best Documentary at the Immigration Film Fest!

The Long Ride, a film I edited in 2017, just won the Best Documentary Award at the Immigration Film Fest in Washington D.C. Congratulations to Director Valerie Lapin Ganley, the Immigrant Workers Freedom Riders and all who made The Long Ride possible!

The Long Ride is a timely feature-length documentary about the historic 2003 Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride that sparked the new Civil Rights Movement for immigrant workers in the United States. Alarmed by increasing abuse of immigrants in the workplace, more than 900 immigrants and allies traveled across America to focus public attention on the plight of immigrant workers and to call for reform of the broken immigration system. They were inspired by the 1961 Civil Rights Movement Freedom Riders who risked their lives fighting to end segregation. The film chronicles their journey and the on-going fight for immigrant rights to this day. With Freedom Riders as our navigators, the film puts a human face on this controversial issue and examines the human costs as lawmakers consider overhaul of the U.S. immigration system.

Director’s Statement: “In 2013, the Senate passed Comprehensive Immigration Reform. I thought the dream of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride would soon be fulfilled. I set out to make an historical film about social movement building and how to achieve social justice goals. But Tea Party Republicans in the House prevailed and convinced the Republican leaders to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote. Then Donald Trump ran and won the presidency… The work of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride continues, and the long ride just got longer.