Join us for an evening of contemporary cinema examining the lived experiences, histories, and community power of the Mexican diaspora. Co-curated with Erick Barragán, the program features short and feature-length works that navigate labor, memory, migration, and collective organizing across Mexico City, Puebla, and Philadelphia.

Hear from documentary filmmaker, journalist, and curator Kristal Sotomayor!

“Expanding Sanctuary” screens at Movement Movie Night with Amistad Law Project, Juntos, and VietLead on Saturday, November 22 from 4 PM - 7 PM at Vox Populi.

Sotomayor Productions films screen at the Barnes Foundation’s Young Professional’s Night on Friday, November 21st from 7 – 11pm.

"Don't Cry For Me All You Drag Queens" screens at Centre Film Festival on Nov 16th at 10:45 AM at The Rowland Theatre.

Revolutions Film Series Presents “Expanding Sanctuary” and “The Infiltrators” on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 from 7:00pm - 9:30pm at the Landis Cinema (Buck Hall - 219 N. 3rd Street).

“Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” screens at OutReels Cincinnati on Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM at the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater (801 Matson Pl, Cincinnati Ohio 45204).

“Expanding Sanctuary” screens with Latina Discussion Group at Dickinson College.

“Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” screens at Hobnobben Film Festival on Saturday, October 25th at 1:15 PM at the Main Theater.

The Philadelphia Mosaic: Immigrant Film Showcase screens Expanding Sanctuary and Status Pending at Esperanza in collaboration with Esperanza Immigration Legal Services. The films serve as a centerpiece in an evening of Latin food, live music, and conversation highlighting stories of resilience, activism, and the cultural richness of Philadelphia’s immigrant communities.

"Don't Cry For Me All You Drag Queens" screens at the Black Bear Film Festival on Sunday, October 19 at Triversity - The Pride Center (201 W. Harford St., Milford, PA).⁠

"Don't Cry For Me All You Drag Queens" at Bucks County FilmFest on Saturday, October 18th at the County Theater.

“Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” screens at the Santa Cruz Film Festival⁠ on Friday, October 10th at 7:30pm at The 418 Project.

“Expanding Sanctuary” screens at Appalachian Queer Film Festival on Saturday, October 4th at 1:30 PM at the Frank Center at the Shepherd University (260 University Dr, Shepherdstown, WV 25443).

“Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” screens at Monadnock International Film Festival on Saturday, October 4 at 12:30 PM at the SHOWROOM (20 Commercial Street, Keene, NH 03431).

“Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” is screening at People’s Media Camp as part of the Archival shorts program on Friday, October 3rd from 5-10pm, co-presented with cinéSPEAK at the Calvary Community Center, 4703 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, PA, 19143.

Marian Bailey’s vibrant new mural, Films Shaped by a City, celebrates some of the key films and film-related organizations that have impacted filmmaking, film presentation, and film-related training in Philadelphia.

Join Penn for Immigrant Rights for a screening of Expanding Sanctuary and a community dialogue on activism and civic engagement.

“Expanding Sanctuary” screens at the Backyard Docs Film Festival on Saturday, September 27th at 3:30 PM at the Melwood Screening Room (477 Melwood Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213).

Creating in Our Backyard: Nonfiction Production Roundtable:

This roundtable is a meeting of the minds, bringing together acclaimed nonfiction filmmakers, production studios, visual journalists, and storytellers from across the Rust Belt and Appalachian regions to share their experiences, challenges, and successes working close to home. This discussion will feature Kristal Sotomayor (Expanding Sanctuary, Sotomayor Productions), Hansen Bursic (Trans Heaven, Backyard Docs Festival Director), Colleen C Brady (Amish Country Queer), Steph Strasburg (Senior Photojournalist, PublicSource), Alexis Johnson (Senior Reporter, Axios Pittsburgh), Nick Childers (Co-Lead Organizer, Pittsburgh Video Consortium), and more. The conversation will explore how place shapes storytelling, the unique opportunities and challenges of regional production, and exchange advice on how to work in our region, as well as strategies for building sustainable creative careers outside major media hubs. Attendees will gain valuable insights, practical advice, and connections to strengthen their own work rooted in our communities.

"Expanding Sanctuary" screens at the Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival on Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM.

“Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” screens at the Cindependent Film Festival on Friday, September 19th at 10:00 AM in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio at Memorial Hall.

“Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” screens at BEYOND: The Cary Film Festival on Friday, September 12th at 5:30 PM at The Cary Theater (122 E. Chatham St., Cary, NC 27511).

“Expanding Sanctuary” screenings with a Q&A at Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center (210 S 45th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104).

"Don't Cry For Me All You Drag Queens" screens at the SF Queer Film Festival as part of the "Small Bites Program" on Sunday, August 24th at 1PM at the Big Roxie.

The first Philadelphia Mosaic: Immigrant Film Showcase is happening Saturday, August 16 at 6 PM at Fleisher Art Memorial! Join us to celebrate and amplify the voices of Philadelphia’s immigrant communities through a powerful program of short films followed by a Q&A.

• A Film is a Goodbye That Never Ends by Maria Luisa Santos (13 min)

• Room 140 by Priscilla Gonzalez Sainz (12 min)

• Expanding Sanctuary by Kristal Sotomayor (21 min)