Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance invites you to attend
“WELCOME STRANGERS” – A VIRTUAL SCREENING FOR COLORADO SPRINGS
Film Available Jan. 13 – 17, 2021.
Live panel discussion and Q&A on Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. MT
“Welcome Strangers” is a documentary short film offering a timely and practical example of “loving thy neighbor”. The film highlights the work of Casa de Paz (casadepazcolorado.org), a Denver based organization offering hospitality and shelter to recently released immigrants and their family members separated by immigrant detention.
When asylum-seeking immigrants are released from an ICE detention facility onto unfamiliar streets near Denver, Colorado, where can they go for help? Since 2012, Sarah Jackson and her team of volunteers at Casa de Paz have welcomed more than 3000 immigrants into their home. “Welcome Strangers” is a 20-minute documentary short film examining the experience of several recent immigrant detainees and the volunteers who welcome these strangers upon their release. The film features West Cameroon immigrant, Oliver, full-time host at Casa de Paz, and Sarah Jackson, Casa de Paz founder and Executive Director (who spent some of her formative years as a teenager and young adult in Colorado Springs).
The filmmakers are partnering with several organizations in the Colorado Springs community, including The Greenberg Center for Learning and Tolerance, for a special virtual screening of the film “Welcome Strangers”. Ticket buyers can watch the film anytime from January 13-17, 2021 and are invited to join us for a live virtual panel discussion and Q&A on Sunday, January 17 from 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.
The Virtual Panel and Q&A will include the following participants:
Sarah Jackson, Founder and Executive Director, Casa de Paz
Oliver, Host, Casa de Paz
Hannah Martin, Director, The Accompaniment and Sanctuary Coalition of Colorado Springs
Eric Pavri, Local Immigration Attorney
Dia Sokol Savage, Director, “Welcome Strangers”
Garret Savage, Producer, “Welcome Strangers”
Tickets are $5 per household. Closed captioning is available. Donations are welcome and all proceeds will be split evenly between Casa de Paz, the Accompaniment and Sanctuary Coalition of Colorado Springs, and the film’s national outreach campaign to bring the story of Casa de Paz to a wider audience. If you can’t afford a ticket, please email the producers at welcomestrangersfilm@gmail.com for a discount code. We want everyone to be able to see the film.
INFO ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Dia Sokol Savage is the creator and executive producer of MTV’s hit series 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, one of the longest running documentary series on television. She has also directed numerous other films. Garret Savage is the Peabody Award-winning editor of My Perestroika, and has produced and/or edited numerous other projects for Paramount Pictures, ABC/ESPN, HBO, and more.
“Welcome Strangers” has screened at numerous festivals and won the following awards:
Telluride Mountainfilm, Women in Film Award
Palm Springs Shortfest, Local Jury Award
Compassion Film Festival, People’s Choice Award Compassionate Service
March on Washington Film Festival, Special Mention, Emerging Documentary
Pittsburgh Shorts Festival, Honorable Mention
More info on the film at welcomestrangersfilm.com.