Filmmaker Jeremy S. Levine looks at the effects of family separation in this potent documentary short.
The Return - Family Separation, his third short in 10 years, begins with 12-year-old Geovanny looking out a bus window while his father, Miguel, in voice-over, praises his son's intelligence, but regrets that he wouldn't be able to give him a proper education in Guatemala, so he sent him to the United States. His intentions were good, but the timing was off.
During the first Trump administration, between 2018-2021, Latin America minors frequently ended up in detention centers with notoriously unsafe conditions for extended periods of time. That is what happened to Geovanny, who would be returned to his family after being detained in Houston and then Dallas for six months altogether before being put on a flight to Guatemala.
Though his father is happy to have him home, he worries that the experience has changed his son for the worse. Geovanny refuses to talk about it, and ends up dropping out of school, leading his parents to wonder exactly what happened to him. His siblings are just as happy to have him home, though he won't open up to them about it either, so no one really knows.
Levine catches up with him four years later, at which point the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of over 4,000 separated families. Under the Biden administration, it will lead to an injunction and wider reunification.
Between his concern for Geovanny and worry about his farm, which hasn’t been faring well, Miguel prepares to relocate his entire family to the States. His parents are heartbroken, though the family’s visa only covers three years. The sequence in which they leave shifts, powerfully, from the cacophony of crying to the quiet, poetic image of a vehicle growing smaller and smaller as it moves through a tunnel (the cinematography was provided by Levine, Nicolas Abaunza, and César Martínez Barba).
In the States, the family moves into a more modern home than the one they left behind, giving them reasons to be hopeful, not least after Miguel pays off most of an old debt. Their future remains uncertain, though, and an end credit notes that, after six years, 1,200 children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border have not been reunited with their families.
Geovanny is one of the lucky ones, though Levine never reveals what happened to him in Texas. The filmmaker, whose last feature was 2017's For Ahkeem, previously explored America's border policies in his 2005 documentary (with Landon Van Soest), Walking the Line, with which The Return - Family Separation would work well as part of a double bill or film series.
Why should public and academic libraries include this short immigration documentary?
The Return – Family Separation offers timely and relevant insight into the lasting effects of border separation policies. It’s a vital resource for classes on immigration, Latin American studies, public policy, and human rights. Public libraries with documentary collections focused on current affairs, family narratives, or social justice will find this an essential addition for patrons seeking emotionally resonant, real-life stories.
How can educators use this short immigration documentary in the classroom?
At under 30 minutes, The Return is ideal for classroom discussion. Instructors can use it to spark conversations around U.S. immigration law, ethics, trauma, and the global impacts of American policy. It pairs well with legal texts, news articles, or other documentaries, and works in sociology, history, or political science contexts. Educators may also consider using it alongside Levine’s earlier film Walking the Line for comparative analysis.
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