Portfolio > Video & Animation

I Belong Here
video
2017

"Pertenezco Aqui/I Belong Here" is a short performance art film of protest and call for compassion. It’s inspired by immigrants in the United Stated who are threatened by deportation because of the Trump Administration's plan to end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). Through my improvisational movements, original poetry (presented in English and Spanish), and music score, the film shows the chilling uncertainties and resolve of DACA holders, also known as "Dreamers," by answering the questions: “What makes you feel like you belong?" and "What would happen if that were taken away?” Overall, I Belong Here offers viewers a reflective meditation on what Dreamers, and others under threat in the place they long to call home, endure.

I Belong Here, 'premiered at the 2017 Luminaria Contemporary Art Festival presented by Mockingbird Media & Art in partnership with the Artpace Teen Council. I produced, directed and edited "I Belong Here" by filming my own movment, composing the music, and co-writing the poetry with my sister, Inez Saenz, who narrates the poetry in this film. Runtime: 6:17 minutes.