Film Series on Immigration Continues with "Abandoned"

Abandoned (2000, 55 minutes), a film by directors David Belle and Nicholas Wrathall, is the second installment of a film series on immigration. Abandoned will screen at on Tuesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (540 East Thach Avenue). Dr. Stacey Hunt, professor in the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts, will lead discussion.

Abandoned, takes a close look at the personal impact of immigration laws and depicts the severity of current detention and deportation policies. Through intimate interviews and shocking footage of detainees' treatment behind bars the film provides an eye-opening experience for those unfamiliar with the detention system.

Hunt, who will moderate Abandoned, is currently an assistant professor of Political Science. She specializes in comparative politics with an emphasis on contemporary state construction in Latin America.  Abandoned, has been shown at over a dozen film festivals and focuses on the effects of the 1996 law that allows for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to imprison legal permanent residents and asylum applicants.

The series, which is free and open to all, will include screenings of seven other films, including Harvest of Shame, Pueblos Hermanos and Morristown. Each screening will take place at AUUF at 7 p.m. Designed to spark discussion of both film and issues of immigration, the series was created by Dr. Kerri Muñoz and is sponsored by the Auburn University Latin American Studies Center for Community Connections, the College of Liberal Arts Global Citizenship Project, the departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures, English, and Political Science, as well as AUUF and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the Collegeof Liberal Arts.