LA Pinoys applaud Jose Vargas' "Documented" film

By Steve Angeles, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

May 8, 2014

LOS ANGELES – The most high profile undocumented immigrant, Jose Antonio Vargas has brought his story to one of the country’s largest Filipino population, biggest undocumented immigrant community in Los Angeles.

“This film has been a labor of love. It’s been very challenging exhilarating experience and given again what Los Angeles represents in the immigrant community, this is a city of immigrants given the large Filipino and Filipino community here this is the place for it to be,” the journalist turned filmmaker said.

Vargas showed his film “Documented”, which talks about his life story as an American lacking legal status, to the Filipino community at the Museum of Tolerance. Dreamers and advocates were among the first to see the long awaited documentary.

“It’s great to see a story similar to me that I can relate to, and really what it means to be undocumented in this country and not to be ashamed of who you are,” Anthony Ng, a Philippine-born dreamer who works with nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said.

The Los Angeles screening comes as immigration reform continues to stall, and after thousands of people hit the streets for the annual May Day protests.

“Immigrants in the country are undergoing and experiencing a moral crisis. Hopefully what the film does is, and what people have said is, it provides some sort, if not peace, some sort of witness. Like our lives bearing witness to each other,” Vargas said.

“Documented” will play at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles beginning on Friday. Later this year, it will hit millions of household as plans are being made to air it on CNN.

“I’m proud to say a film directed by a Filipino-American, a third of it in Tagalog, is going to air on American television,” he said.

You can contact Steve Angeles at steve_angeles@abs-cbn.com for more information.