Sentenced Home

Sentenced Home was featured in ITVS’s landmark Community Cinema program, producing community outreach screenings in 25 cities during April 2007. All screenings were conducted between 10 and 60 days prior to the film’s scheduled national broadcast on Independent Lens. Sentenced Home screenings welcomed 1,500 community members to events across the nation, which included panel discussions with local community leaders, legal experts, individuals facing deportation, and family members who have been affected by deportation.

The events attracted many members of many different immigrant and refugee communities, beyond the Cambodian Americans who are represented in the film. In Minneapolis, the Neighborhood House and Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota organized a panel of experts to speak after the film screening to educate the audience about the current immigration laws and risks of deportation. The majority of the audience was immigrants from a local adult ESL class, who were visibly affected by the stories presented in the film. During the discussion it became apparent that for many audience members, this was the first time they had clearly and pointedly received a presentation about the reality of deportation.

ITVS produced companion discussion guides to support the screenings and for use by viewers at home; more than 10,000 were downloaded or distributed. More than 50 community-based and national organizations partnered with ITVS to engage audiences with this film.

Sentenced Home is a featured collection in ITVS’s Community Classroom program, offering short film modules and curricular materials that have been distributed to more than 2,000 educators to date, reaching more than 10,000 students and youth.