Cinema Guild acquires award-winning immigration doc I’m Leaving Now

NEW YORK, NY- Cinema Guild announced today the acquisition of U.S. distribution rights to I’m Leaving Now (Ya Me Voy), directed by Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda and written by Josh Alexander. The film premiered at Hot Docs International Documentary Festival and was an official selection of Doc NYC last November. It won Special Mention from the jury at the Morelia Film Fest and a Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at DocsMX. It will open in theaters later this year.

The film follows Felipe, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, who has reached a crossroads: after 16 years in Brooklyn, working three low-paying jobs and sending the bulk of his earnings to his wife and children in Mexico, he's decided to return home to the family he hasn't seen in almost two decades. But when he informs them of his plans, he discovers that they've squandered the money, are deeply in debt and don’t want him to return. They need him to stay in the U.S. and continue to earn.

Shot over two years in the heart of Brooklyn’s immigrant community, I’m Leaving Now is a searing and intimate portrait of one undocumented worker on the margins. The film brings a warm humanity to one of the most pressing political issues of our time, without sentimentalizing or trivializing its subject. In allowing the rhythms, emotions and sounds of Felipe’s day-to-day life to drive the story, Cordero and Croda open an impressionistic, cinematic window onto a life that might otherwise remain unseen.

“We hear so much about immigration issues these days, but we don’t know enough about the lives of the people who are affected,” said Cinema Guild Director of Distribution Peter Kelly. “Lindsey, Armando and Josh have given us the opportunity to know a little more with this tremendously important and beautiful work.” “It’s rare for audiences to see Felipe’s side of the immigration story—an undocumented worker dreaming about and desperate to return home,” said I’m Leaving Now writer and producer Josh Alexander. “We are thrilled to be working with the extraordinary team at Cinema Guild—who have a legacy of championing work of artistic quality and rich humanity—to help us share the film with audiences.”

The film was produced by Josh Alexander, Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda and co-produced by J. Xavier Velasco. The music was composed by Jacobo Lieberman and Leonardo Heiblum.

The deal was negotiated by Peter Kelly of Cinema Guild with producer Josh Alexander.

Cinema Guild is a premier distributor of international cinema, independent films and documentaries, whose recent releases include the Academy Award®-nominated Hale County This Morning, This Evening, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s The Wild Pear Tree, Hong Sangsoo’s Hotel by the River and Jim McKay’s En el Séptimo Día. Upcoming releases include Hong Sangsoo's Grass and Raul Ruiz and Valeria Sarmiento's The Wandering Soap Opera.



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