120 Days

I was able to watch this film in the intimate atmosphere of the Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill - an atmosphere that allowed the audience to share their emotions with one another both during and after the filming. The family featured in this film embodies everything that the American family has come to represent - a family dedicated to one another, dedicated to their faith, dedicated to their community! A family that knows the value of hard work and a good education! The only problem is - it is a family that we Americans are apparently only comfortable with by putting the label of "illegal aliens" on! If you have not seen this film, and continue to be comfortable using that label, consider exposing yourself to a side of what another "America" has to offer. We will ALL profit from your willingness to open that door! This beautifully composed film has a message for All communities.

Ted Roach's excellent documentary helps bring human scale to issues that often seem in the realm of politicians and television pundits. A family that is probably in your community, part of your world, faces difficult choices about their futures that will change their lives and those around them. The Cortes family works and plays yet one moment, being stopped (for what reason) by the police and their world stops. Except it doesn't. Because they have 120 Days to make choices of who and where to be. But this is not fiction. It happened to actual people, and they are living out the effects of the choices they made. The film is beautiful, too. Will move you.

This is a well done documentary that shows the human side of immigration. The family is the type of family you would love to have as neighbors. Teddy Roach does a great job humanizing the plight while not forcing any political views on the viewer.

This deeply personal view into the family's last 120 days together in the US and is a great way for all of us to grapple with our personal views on immigration policies and how they effect real families that have to struggle with them.

I hope all of our leaders in the US government take the time to watch pieces like this, so they can fully understand the impact of the rules they make or the laws they enforce.

With so many pundits and politicians attempting to demonize undocumented immigrants, "120 Days" provides an essential corrective. The people in this moving documentary come to seem like family members, and the human toll of immigration policy becomes achingly real.

Ted Roach, the writer-director, uses subtle editing and unobtrusive narration to convey the urgency of the situation facing an undocumented immigrant named Miguel Cortes -- and he does so without resorting to sensationalism or sentimentality. The approach is simple, direct -- and all the more effective because of that.

Even viewers who shy away from documentaries will find themselves drawn into the drama of Cortes and his family. The film is just as suspenseful as a Hollywood thriller, and the outcome of the story will stay with you long after the film ends.

Highly recommended.

Very approachable, very powerful. This film puts a real flesh and blood face to what can be an abstract issue for a lot of Americans. What we read and hear from the media on this issue is a far cry from the reality as we delve into the darker side of our immigration laws. With very little narration, the filmmaker has the where with all and good sense to step out of the way and let the power and love of Miguel's family lead the way as we fret with each and every turn. Miguel's decision is one that should resonate within us all. This film should be required viewing not just for our representatives in DC, but for all citizens.