ABOUT BACKGROUND DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT CAST

LEVIATHAN

Drama | 2026 | USA | 20 min | Spanish, English

While in border custody, a migrant father is processed and made to wait until an impossible choice is placed before him.

SYNOPSIS

In a cold U.S. border holding room in 2018, Jairo (Moises Chavez) is separated from his six-year-old daughter. There, he witnesses other migrant fathers wait under the eyes of CBP officers. When the door opens for him, he’s taken to a room where Agent Torres (Ivan Jasso) waits with English-only forms that Jairo cannot read and is pushed for a signature that could decide everything.

LEVIATHAN is currently in development and filming.

LEVIATHAN is the first in a series of human-centered films on immigration.
It is developed with, and centered on, the people who live it and those working for change.

BACKGROUND

In 2018, a “Zero Tolerance” policy at the U.S.–Mexico border separated thousands of parents from their children. Families were first held in freezing Border Patrol cells — “hieleras” — before many were sent to separate facilities.

Parents faced impossible odds. Forms were only in English. Interpreters and lawyers weren’t guaranteed. Exhausted and scared, parents were forced to sign papers they couldn’t read. Those signatures decided their fate — most of the time without their children.

LEVIATHAN tells the story of one father in that moment.

Developed with experts. Not in a filmmaker’s bubble.

From the earliest story notes through the rough cut, we worked with former CBP officers, immigration attorneys, interpreters, and people who’ve lived these experiences — asking them to flag what felt off and confirm what rang true.

Their feedback shaped dialogue, the feel of processing, officer behavior, and the intense pressure around English-only forms parents were forced to sign.

Our goal was simple: be honest, cut assumptions, and keep listening.

Operates to illuminate and challenge injustices in immigration policy.

AS A SHORT FILM

LEVIATHAN tells a complete story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It shows what life inside the immigration system feels like, giving audiences, partners, and backers a shared point of reference.

Through narrative filmmaking, it captures the lived realities of migrants in ways that facts and news coverage alone cannot — showing how the story plays, looks, and sounds.

AS A SERIES OF VIGNETTES

Each vignette acts as a focused test, highlighting a specific aspect of the immigration system. One explores cold holding cells, another language barriers, another the pressure to sign forms, and another family separation.

These moments make the harms visible, spark discussion, and help guide which stories should expand into a larger film and impact-focused work.

This proof-of-concept is a chance for the production to…

BUILD THE WORLD

To stage the hielera and processing center, noticing which details ring authentic, which fall short, and how these spaces might grow into full-scale sets.

DEMONSTRATE NARRATIVE FILM

To demonstrate how narrative filmmaking can carry what documentaries and news headlines can’t — with tools like montages, music, sound design, and more.

WORK WITH EXPERTS

To share the work with advocates, experts, and those with lived experience in a way that builds trust, opens dialogue, and roots it in ongoing collaboration.

PROVE WHAT’S POSSIBLE

To show that this world can be brought to the screen, while guiding the choices in design, logistics, and storytelling that lie ahead.

FIND THE STORY

To test characters and dialogue in motion, to see which emotional beats land and which ones fade, and to carry forward what feels most true.