TORN APART: SEPARATED AT THE BORDER

HBO, 2019

Streaming on HBO and HBO MAX

Humanitas Prize Finalist, 2020

SYNOPSIS

A dark chapter in America’s immigration story is illuminated in the traumas and triumphs of two women who fled life-threatening violence to seek asylum here, only to be forcibly separated from their young children. This timely film reveals their grit and character as they fight to secure their children’s futures.

Torn Apart: Separated at the Border, will premier at the Meet The Press/AFI Film Festival in Washington D,C, prior to its television debut on HBO on October 10th, 2019. This film examines the ongoing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border by following two mothers over the course of a year.

“Torn Apart: Separated at the Border provides a deep dive into the human consequences of these policies, offering intimate access to the lives and experiences of the families involved, from the violence that forced them to flee their homes, through the heart-wrenching separation of children from their parents, and then the long, uncertain and agonizing fight to be heard in a court of law,” said Goosenberg Kent.

Directed and Produced by Ellen Goosenberg Kent. Edited by Luis Alvarez y Alvarez. Produced by Xochitl Dorsey. Executive Producers for Talos Films: Elli Hakami and Julian P Hobbs. Executive Producers for HBO: Lisa Heller and Nancy Abraham. Supervising Producer Sara Rodriguez.

TRAILER & SELECTED CLIPS

SELECTED REVIEWS

The Guardian
”A defining story of our time': the film-maker giving a face to family separation”

“The furor over family separation that summer felt to me, like gun violence, in that it was a defining story of our time, Torn Apart’s director, Ellen Goosenberg Kent, told the Guardian. And it also felt to me that it was going to turn out to be one of the darkest chapters in this country’s immigration history - and that it had to be told.”

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/oct/10/torn-apart-hbo-documentary-family-separation

The Decider
”Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Torn Apart: Separated At The Border’ On HBO, A Documentary Short About Two Mothers Affected By The U.S.’s Border Policy“

Where the 39-minute documentary short shines is focusing on the two women and letting them tell their stories. And those stories are tough to take, especially if you’re a parent. Hearing Vilma and María talking about why they escaped and are seeking asylum, and how they’ve been suffering during their prolonged separation from their children, just made us shake our heads at how needlessly cruel the policy has been.

But we also appreciated that Goosenberg Kent gave us hope at the end, not only by showing the women reunited with their children, but also starting a stable life in the U.S. over the following months, despite the uncertainty around their asylum applications. Even though they face a massive uphill climb — asylum approvals have declined over the past few years — at the very least we leave them with a modicum of hope for the future showing through the anxiety.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Torn Apart: Separated At The Border will bring the crisis to life in ways news reports just can’t convey.

https://decider.com/2019/10/10/torn-apart-separated-at-the-border-hbo-stream-it-or-skip-it/