Amanda’s Prison

Amanda Morales Guerra has rarely seen the light of day since she walked into Holyrood Church Santa Cruz nearly a year ago. Fleeing violence in her native Guatemala and, after years in the U.S., a deportation order from the Trump administration, priest and activist Luis Barrios had offered her sanctuary in his uptown Manhattan church. When I visit Amanda, she is filled with memories of the inflatable kiddie pool in her Long Island backyard, her own piece of the American dream.

final film of the New York Film Academy’s documentary program


Director, Editor & 2nd Camera: Christina Felschen, 1st Camera: Marcela Marcelli, Sound & 3rd Camera: Alejandro Kirchuk