Synopsis

PRODUCER & DIRECTOR

Juan Freitez

Juan Freitez is an internationally acclaimed visual storyteller, video journalist and filmmaker. His work has been featured by national and international outlets such as NBC News, National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International (PRI), The American Public Health Association, The National Journal, Netroots Nation, and The Huffington Post. He founded Community Grassroots Media - a full service video production company - to bring to light the stories of mission-driven organizations, capturing their essence and amplifying their impact. His first feature-length documentary, HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED (SALUD SIN PAPELES), awarded Freitez several international accolades and screened at national and international film festivals and impact conferences. The film has been translated into multiple languages including Spanish, French, Hindi and Malay. It has also been acquired by many libraries and universities for incorporation into their curricula. Freitez has been hosted as a guest speaker by renowned universities, including Stanford, NYU, Georgetown, and UCSD to present his work and lead discussions about the communities and topics documented in his films. He is currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he remains dedicated to fostering his various local and cultural communities. Outside of running his production company, Freitez enjoys being enveloped by the hugs and giggles of his two young daughters and being reminded of what the world looks like through the lens of a child.
 

Executive Producer

Chelsea Soyring

Chelsea Soyring is co-founder of Community Grassroots Media, and was pivotal in the development and birth of HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED. Not only was she instrumental in fundraising and logistics behind producing the film, but Chelsea served as shadow editor for the film. She initially volunteered at the community health fairs that evolved into Phoenix Allies for Community Health, and helped build the clinic documented in the film. As a physician assistant, Chelsea has seen the direct impact that lack of access to healthcare can have on patients and communities, and aims for her work on HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED to spark conversation and foster dialogue around these issues.

Co-Producer

Pita Juarez

Pita Juarez is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Arizona. Pita, a Guatemalan-American, is inspired by social issues affecting underserved and Latino communities. She is a contributing writer for Spanish and English publications and works across a variety of mediums including film and radio. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Hill, CNN Latino, Univision, Remezcla and The Arizona Republic. As an NPR fellow, Pita developed and produced Mira Listen, a podcast "for Latino Millennials, by Latino Millennials" that serves bilingual, immigrant, LGBTQ, and activist communities. In 2015 Pita joined Venezuelan filmmaker Juan Freitez to produce HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED. She hopes the film will engage and inspire diverse audiences to effect change in their communities

Co-Producer

Jessica Cvetic 

Jessica Cvetic channeled her humanitarian and social justice passion into producing HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED. Approaching production from a non-film background, Jessica offered fresh insight through her investigative and statistical research skills. She previously worked for Community Grassroots Media as a production assistant on multiple documentary shorts. Jessica paused from her work on the HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED team to attend graduate school, and is now a physician assistant practicing in emergency medicine, where she applies her humanitarian spirit to providing patient-centered care in rural communities.

Impact Producer (2019)

MARGA VAREA

Marga Varea is the founder of Twin Seas Media, an impact distribution boutique agency working with documentary films and film festivals. With over twenty years of experience in the film and television industries, Marga has a deep understanding of the filmmaking process from concept to distribution and a deep love for non-fiction. Marga was the Impact Producer for Health Undocumented in 2019.

Director's statement

I immigrated to the United States in 2000 to pursue my dream of becoming a filmmaker. I landed in Michigan with $150 to my name, fighting to make ends meet as I paid my way through school. Working shoulder to shoulder with other immigrants, we bonded over being strangers in a foreign land. We commiserated over being judged for our accents and treated as second class citizens. I understand inherently the struggle immigrants face in trying to survive in this country. But one difference between us was key: I had papers. I had a student visa.

Starting with English school, I began to climb the social ladder of the United States. When I moved to Phoenix in 2012, I saw for the first time the very conditions I thought I had left behind in Venezuela. How could one of the richest countries in the world remain impoverished? How could it have left so many behind? Phoenix opened my eyes to the racism and crippling oppression lurking beneath the facade of the American Dream, and I wanted to understand and explore the roots of this inequality. 

I met a group of street medics that was remodeling a dilapidated house to build a free clinic to serve the undocumented population of Phoenix. I tagged along with their crew, helping to paint and move furniture. As Phoenix Allies for Community Health took shape, I interpreted for patients and providers. The clinic was combating one of the primary causes of poverty in the United States: lack of access to healthcare. I wanted to document the work of the clinic and the community that came together to build it, especially the industrious and inspiring patients. I formed deep bonds with many of these patients, who welcomed me and my camera into their homes and lives with love and trust both as a fellow immigrant, and as a storyteller.

Three years later, the short had grown into a feature-length documentary and events in the country had taken an extraordinary turn. Immigrants were being vilified by the holder of the highest public office in the United States. White nationalists and neo-Nazis held a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia at which a counter protester was killed. And Joe Arpaio, the Phoenix sheriff notorious for racial profiling against Hispanics, was pardoned by the president. 

It is in this moment of darkness that I hope SALUD SIN PAPELES: HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED can serve as a beacon of hope, showing what can be done when a community rises up against intolerance. The film was an expression of my perception of what it means to be an immigrant in the United States. I hope that this story illuminates how oppression is perpetuated through lack of access to healthcare and how inaction damages our society and economy. And I hope that it serves as a celebration of the incredible perseverance and dedication that burn deep in those of us who come here to build a better life for ourselves and our families.

SCREENINGS

HEALTH UNDOCUMENTED will show at selected film festivals both in the US and internationally through 2019. In addition, a nationwide Outreach Tour is underway to bring the film to educational institutions, NGOs, health advocacy groups, libraries and others across the country. Stay tuned for upcoming screenings near you or contact us to book yours!

University of California Riverside Health Equity & Structural Competency Conference

Two presentations Friday, March 6th, 2020 at 10:00 am & 1:30 pm. Riverside, California. Discussion with Ingrid Sawyer on the ongoing efforts of Phoenix Allies for Community Health. For more information on the event click HERE.

Washtenaw Read presents: Film & Discussion | Salud Sin Papeles: Health Undocumented

Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 6 PM – 8:30 PM. Screening at the Ann Arbor District Library and conversation with director Juan Freitez, Spring Quiñones - Bilingual Outreach Worker at the Washtenaw Health Plan and Paul Fleming - Assistant Professor in Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. For more information on the event click HERE.

APHA Global Health Film Festival 2019, Philadelphia, PA

Tuesday, November 5th at 10:30am. Screening at the American Public Health Association annual meeting focusing on Social Discrimination and Health Equity. Conversation with executive producer Chelsea Soyring to follow. For more information on the event click HERE.

Siena Heights University, Adrian, Michigan

Tuesday, October 29th at 6:00pm.Screening and conversation with director Juan Freitez. Co-sponsored by the Office of International Studies in collaboration with the College of Nursing. More details coming soon!

Immigration Film Festival 2019, Washington DC

Sunday, October 20th. Screening and panel discussion.

For more information on the event click HERE.

Cinetopia Encore Screening, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Saturday, September 22nd at 6:00 pm at the Michigan Theater. Screening and panel discussion with director Juan Freitez in attendance. For more infomation click HERE.

USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, LA, California

Tuesday, September 17th. Screening and discussion.

More details coming soon.

Minority Health Film Festival, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Saturday, September 14th, 2019 at 1 PM at The Oriental Theater. Screening and discussion with director Juan Freitez in attendance. For more information click HERE.

Center for Research on Migration & Refugee Integration, University of Utah

Monday, September 9th. Screening and panel discussion with director Juan Freitez in attendance.

For more information click HERE.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, Spokane, Washington

Thursday, August 22nd. Screening and panel discussion.

Netroots Nation Convention, Philadelphia

Friday, July 12, 2019 at 12 PM. Screening and talkback with director Juan Freitez and film subject Jason Odhner. For more information on the event click HERE.

North American Refugee Health Conference, Toronto

Saturday, June 15, 2019 at 12pm, EST. Screening and discussion with director Juan Freitez and producer Chelsea Soyring. For more information on the event click HERE.

Shoreline Community College, Shoreline Washington

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 12:30 PM, PDT. Screening and discussion with director Juan Freitez (remotely via Zoom).

Free and open to the public and hosted by the SCC Pre-Health Sciences Club. For more information on the event click HERE.

Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Chicago

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 9 AM – 12 PM CDT. Screening and Q&A with director Juan Freitez in person for the Whitney M. Young Magnet High School community. For more information on the event click HERE.

Phoenix Premiere at Harkins Theatres Christown

Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 6:30pm - Phoenix, Arizona. Screening and panel discussion with some amazing health-justice leaders TBA. In collaboration with by Phoenix Allies for Community Health (PACH), the clinic featured in the film. Order your tickets HERE.

Cinetopia Film Festival/State Theater

Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 9:00pm - Ann Arbor, Michigan. Screening and discussion with director Juan Freitez and producer Chelsea Soyring. Tickets now on sale HERE.

Stanford University

Monday, April 29, 2019 at 4:30pm - Stanford, California. Screening and discussion with director Juan Freitez. Register HERE. Co-sponsored by Stanford | Center for Population Health Sciences | Office of Community Engagement, Stanford | Center for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford Medicine | Center of Excellence in Diversity in Medical Education, Stanford Medicine | Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Stanford Medicine | Division of Primary Care & Population Health, Stanford Medicine | Latino Medical Student Association of Stanford University, Stanford Medicine | Scholarly Concentration in Community Health, Stanford Medicine | Social Emergency Medicine & Population Health, Stanford University | El Centro Chicano y Latino, Stanford University | Haas Center for Public Service.

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Thursday, April 11th, 2019 at 5:30pm - Washington, DC. Screening and discussion. Free and open to the public. Please RSVP here. Co-sponsored by HOYA Clinic, Latino Medical Student Association, Physicians for Human Rights, DACA, Family Medicine Interest Group, GUSOM's Office of Diversity & Inclusion and Health Justice Alliance.

13th Annual Social Justice Symposium at the University of Arizona (SJS)

Thursday, April 4th, 2019 at 6pm - Tucson, Arizona. Screening and discussion. This event will kick off the 2019 Social Justice Symposium “Bridges & Barriers: Migration and Public Health”. After the film, there will be a panel discussion featuring film subjects Jason Odhner, Amy McMullen and others TBA. Please RSVP HERE.

San Diego Latino Film Festival 2019

(1) Sunday, March 17, 2019 at 5:15pm. Sand Diego, California. Screening and Discussion with director Juan Freitez and producer Chelsea Soyring

(2) Wednesday, March 20, 2019 - 4:45 pm

AMC Fashion Valley 18, 7037 Friars Rd., San Diego, CA 92108

International Film and Human Rights Festival of Valencia – HUMANS FEST 2019

Saturday, February 16, 2019 at 6:00pm - Valencia, Spain.

Freedom Film Festival 2018

Thursday, October 4, 2018 at 2:00pm - Selangor, Malaysia.

Global Peace Film Festival 2018

(1) Friday, September 21, 2018 at 8:30pm - Winter Park, Florida.

(2) Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 12:30pm - Winter Park, Florida.

Gallery

Click on pictures for details.