FORMER DREAMER, NOW WINE SHOP OWNER, AND DC FILMMAKER RAISE FUNDS FOR LOOMING DACA RENEWALS THROUGH FILM AND WINE
Wine shop owner teams up with customer filmmaker to screen a story about Dreamers in an effort to bring together the community to listen, learn, and taste wine.
Washington, DC: DCanter, a Capitol Hill wine shop, is teaming up with Capitol Hill resident and film director, Hilary Linder, to raise funds to support Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewals by hosting a wine tasting and film screening of Indivisible – Love Without Borders, an award-winning documentary film about the real people at the heart of our nation’s immigration debate. Two screenings will take place at DCanter: Saturday, September 30, 2017 (4:00 – 6:00 PM) and Sunday, October 1, 2017 (4:00 – 6:00 PM). Tickets are $20 through September 25 and $25 after that and are available at www.dcanterwines.com/event-tickets.
In early September, President Trump announced the end of the DACA program. DACA enabled nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrant youth–including the three profiled in Indivisible–to work and go to school without the fear of deportation for the first time in their lives. More than 150,000 DACA recipients only have until October 5, 2017 to renew their DACA status at a cost of $495. Money raised from this screening weekend will be donated to The DACA Renewal Fund.
Indivisible is the story of Renata, Evelyn, and Antonio who were young children when their parents brought them to the U.S. in search of a better life. They were teenagers when their mothers, fathers, and siblings were deported. Today, they are known as Dreamers. Indivisible takes place at a pivotal moment in their lives, as they fight for a pathway to citizenship and a chance to be reunited with their loved ones. With the future of immigration reform uncertain, will they see their families again?
“The film really resonated with me because I was a dreamer before the word DREAM was an acronym. My mom brought me to the United States from the Philippines as a child in the 90s, and I was undocumented for a brief period. My mom, who worked as a housekeeper, got us sponsored by her employer. That was a different time in US immigration, and I know we got lucky. Now I own a business; I’m creating jobs and proudly contributing to my country as an American citizen,” DCanter co-founder and CEO, Michelle Lim Warner says of the film.
Film director Hilary Linder hopes that viewers will see this as a story about families, “Knowing that immigration reform is a highly politicized topic, I set out to make a film that would humanize the issue and that both undocumented and documented audiences could relate to—a film about families. We hope that audience members will be inspired to act, and we’ll give them all the tools they need to contact their Members of Congress and ask them to vote for a clean DREAM Act.”
A wine tasting will accompany the film screening featuring wines from immigrant winemakers whose wines are well-regarded around the world. The US wine industry is supported greatly by the labor of immigrants, some of whom are helping to shape the industry as winemakers.
“The screening at DCanter combines so many of my favorite things–supporting local businesses, working with female entrepreneurs, and, of course, wine! Michelle’s immigration story and idea to feature wines produced by immigrants makes this screening even more powerful,” says Hilary Linder of the collaboration with DCanter. This is an effort to bring together members of our community to learn, listen, and taste wine!
About DCanter:
DCanter is a wine boutique in Capitol Hill (545 8th Street SE Washington, DC 20003) specializing in wines from small producers and family-run wineries as well as wine education for the community. Their selections are available in-store and through a personalized wine shopping service called Concierge by DCanter (www.dcanterwines.com/concierge). DCanter was named DC’s Best Place to Buy Wine in 2015, 2016, and 2017 by the Washington City Paper’s Best of DC Readers’ Poll. Address: 545 8th Street SE Washington, DC; Phone: 202-817-3803
About Hilary Linder:
Hilary Linder combines her knowledge in the fields of international development and humanitarian relief with her passion for nonfiction storytelling as the director and producer of Indivisible. Hilary is the founder and president of Kudzu Films, a production company dedicated to spreading social justice through film. She is currently directing the documentary Muji Blades (www.mujibaldesfilm.com) and producing the podcast Do No Harm (www.donoharmpodcast.com).