Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television alumna Jenniffer Castillo receives world premiere of American DREAMers at LA Film Fest on Tuesday, June 16, 2015

The documentary follows six youth walking across the U.S. in support of the DREAM Act; development support provided by LMU SFTV's post-graduate Incubator Lab program

News provided by

Loyola Marymount University

May 28, 2015, 08:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, June 16, 2015, American DREAMers receives its world premiere as part of the Los Angeles Film Festivals's line up of Social Impact Free Screenings. The documentary, directed by LMU alum Jenniffer Castillo (M.F.A. Screenwriting '11) and Saray Deiseil, follows the journey of the Campaign for an American DREAM (CAD), a group of undocumented youth who walked 3,000 miles across America's heartland, from San Francisco to Washington D.C., to fight for the DREAM Act and immigrant rights.

The six young people featured in the documentary are part of a much larger undocumented youth movement. As a result of the movement's collective efforts, approximately 1.7 million undocumented youth now benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which grants legal presence and two-year work permits. President Obama announced the program after the subjects featured in American DREAMers staged a series of sit-in and hunger-strikes in the Obama for America campaign offices in cities across the nation. Castillo and Deiseil followed the subjects through their journey of nearly 3,000 miles to capture their courageous story.

Immigration rights and the DREAM Act have been recurring topics in Castillo's work as a screenwriter. While a student at LMU, she wrote a feature film called Undocumented, which centers on an undocumented mother and daughter who are separated during a Federal raid. Following graduation, Castillo developed American DREAMers with support from LMU SFTV's Incubator Lab, a post-graduate program funded by the Elbridge and Debra Stuart Family Foundation that helps young LMU filmmakers launch their first professional projects.

"I chose to attend LMU SFTV because of the university's Jesuit mission, because I knew I wanted to make films about social justice. After graduating I was able to participate in the Incubator Lab, which not only provided me with a grant to help make my first feature documentary, but also allowed me to engage with a community of young filmmakers and industry professionals who were willing and excited to open their doors and offer their guidance. It put me ahead of the game," said Castillo.

"One of our key goals is to help alumni transition into the industry through programs like the Incubator Lab. We are incredibly proud of Jenniffer's accomplishments and thrilled that the creative community will get the opportunity to see this important film," said Stephen Ujlaki, dean of the School of Film and Television.

American DREAMers World Premiere
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Los Angeles Film Festival
Screening begins promptly at 8pm
La Plaza de Cultura y Artes
501 N Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
7pm-8pm Undocu Art Show, Music, Food Vendors

Learn more about American DREAMers: http://americandreamersdoc.com/
Hi-Res Images: http://bit.ly/1QasApI
Photo credit Jeremy Mazur
Embeddable Trailer: http://youtu.be/cglDRcgk3hE

Learn more about LMU SFTV's Incubator Lab:
http://sftv.lmu.edu/alumni/incubator/

Learn more about the LA Film Fest
"http://www.lafilmfest.com

@lmusftv @amdreamersfilm #americandreamers #LAFilmFest

About LMU SFTV
Movie industry moguls helped establish Loyola Marymount University's (LMU) current campus on the bluffs above west Los Angeles in the 1920s. By 1964, LMU was formally teaching film and television curriculum, and in 2001, the School of Film and Television (SFTV) was established as its own entity. Today, SFTV offers students a comprehensive education where mastering technical skills and story is equally important to educating the whole person, including the formation of character and values, meaning and purpose. SFTV offers undergraduate degrees in animation, production, screenwriting, film and television studies and recording arts; and graduate degrees in production, screenwriting and writing and producing for television. The school is one of the few film programs providing students with a completely tapeless model of production and post-production, and SFTV's animation program is one of the few worldwide that teaches virtual cinematography. Selected alumni include John Bailey, Bob Beemer, Francie Calfo, Brian Helgeland, Francis Lawrence, Lauren Montgomery, Jack Orman, Van Partible and James Wong, among others. Get more information at sftv.lmu.edu or facebook.com/lmusftv.