Directed by Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
A powerful, moving documentary from the filmmakers of the Academy Award nominated War/Dance , Inocente delivers a rare glimpse inside the inspirational life of a homeless, undocumented fifteen-year old girl, a burgeoning artist, and the extraordinary challenges she must contend with on a daily basis.
In San Diego, a young teenage girl's eyes stare into a compact mirror. She paints a dramatic black swirl around her eye. She never knows what her day will bring, but she knows at least it will always begin with color. At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be destroyed by her life as an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years.
Color is her personal revolution and its extraordinary sweep on her canvases creates a world that looks nothing like her own dark past - - a past punctuated by a father deported for domestic abuse, an alcoholic and defeated mother of four who once took her daughter by the hand to jump off a bridge together, an endless shuffle year after year through the city's overcrowded homeless shelters and the constant threat of deportation.
Despite this history, Inocente's eyes envision a world transformed¡where buildings drip in yellow and orange, where pink and turquoise planets twinkle with rescued dreams, and one-eyed childlike creatures play amongst loved babies and purple clouds. Inocente's family history is slowly revealed through her paintings.
Told in her own words, we come to Inocente's story as she realizes her life is at a turning point, and for the first time, she decides to take control of her own destiny. Irreverent, flawed and funny, she's now channeling her irrepressible personality into a future she controls. Her talent has finally been noticed, and if she can create a body of work in time, she has an opportunity to put on her first art show. Meanwhile, her family life is at a tense impasse - - if she legally emancipates herself from her mother to strike out on her own, she'll risk placing her brothers in foster care, but to stay is unbearable.
Inocente is a timeless story about the transformative power of art, the challenges facing undocumented immigrants in this country, and the new face of homeless in America: children. But it is also a coming of age story about a brave young girl's fierce determination to never surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings.
Reviews
~ "This poignant film gives face to homeless children and should prompt discussions about immigration reform, homelessness, and arts education. Recommended for young adult readers¡Teens will embrace Inocente and her story." - Candace Smith, Booklist
~ "Insanely inspiring" - Kate Kennedy, Glamour
Awards
~ Winner, Special Jury Prize, Arizona International Film Festival
~ Winner, Best Documentary Short, San Antonio Film Festival
~ Winner, UNICEF Special Award - EBS International Documentary Film Festival
~ Winner, Best Short Film, Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival
~ Winner, Spirit Award, Awareness Film Festival
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