For Immediate Release;

Contact:     Christina Butterfield
                     News & Media Relations
                     Galloway, N.J. 08205
                     Christina.Butterfield@stockton.edu
                     (609) 626-3845
                     stockton.edu/media

 

Galloway, N.J. – Stockton University at Manahawkin will host a free screening of the film, “Who is Dayani Cristal?” on Friday, Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. at 712 East Bay Ave. in Manahawkin, N.J.

 “Who Is Dayani Cristal?” tells the story of a migrant who found himself in the deadly stretch of desert known as “the corridor of death” and shows how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration. As the real-life drama unfolds we see this John Doe, denied an identity at his point of death, become a living and breathing human being with an important life story.

 Deep in the sun-blistered Sonora Desert, Arizona Border Police discover a decomposing male body beneath a cicada tree. Lifting a tattered T-shirt, they expose a tattoo that reads, “Dayani Cristal.”

 Following a team of dedicated staff from the Pima County Morgue in Arizona, director Marc Silver seeks to answer, “Who is this person? What brought him here? How did he die? Who – or what – is Dayani Cristal?” and give the anonymous man an identity.

 As the forensic investigation unfolds, Mexican actor and activist Gael García Bernal retraces this man’s steps along the migrant trail in Central America. In an effort to understand what it must have felt like to make this final journey, he embeds himself among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border.

 Bernal experiences first-hand the dangers they face and learns of their motivations, hopes and fears. As he travels north, these voices from the other side of the border wall give a rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.

Winner of the Sundance 2013 Cinematography award and nominated in the World Documentary Competition, “Who is Dayani Cristal?” has been described by The Hollywood Reporter as “A deeply moving doc [which] finds a new way of making the immigration debate personal.”

 To learn more about the film, visit Whoisdayanicristal.com.

 For more information on classes, events and community programs at the Stockton at Manahawkin location, visit Stockton.edu/Manahawkin.

 #          #          #