After Landing

It’s been almost a year since Jeczebel Lopez and Jorge Ojeda left their four children behind in Venezuela. They crossed the dangerous Darién Gap, heading for what they thought would be a better life in America. They didn’t expect a bus would bring them from Texas to New York City. They also didn't expect to encounter a city overwhelmed by one of the largest humanitarian crises in its history.

After Landing explores the migrant experience from a deeply personal perspective as the two struggle to find work and housing to support their children back home. While they are waiting for a labor permit, they are confined to illegal work, resulting in the same poverty they had left behind in their homeland. Their unstable financial conditions and their different expectations about life became a rift in their relationship.

Jorge is a dreamer, yearning to build a future in the new country, while Jeczebel is a realist, a mother who longs to be with her kids back home. She calls them every day, afraid of being forgotten. The couple, once unified by a single purpose, now grapple with separation in multiple forms.

Reality doesn't meet their ideals, and emotional costs are mounting every day. Soon, they will decide if they will continue pursuing the fantasy or return home—together or separately.

Screens live on Saturday, Dec. 9

Q&A with filmmakers to follow

Filmmakers