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BlackStar Festival 2025 - July 31st to 3rd August BlackStar Festival 2025 - July 31st to 3rd August

Short Documentary

Expanding Sanctuary

  • Closed captions online Closed Captioning
  • Open captions in-person Open Captions

An immigrant mother emerges as a community leader during the historic campaign to end the sharing of the Philadelphia police database with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Expanding Sanctuary tells a rarely told story about a Latinx immigrant community’s successful journey to change legislation and protect families.

Thank you to our screening partner: Black Documentary Collective (BDC)

Directors Spotlight

A picture of a non-binary person named Kristal Sotomayor standing outdoors. She is dressed in a vibrant fuchsia wrap dress that features puffed sleeves and a belt tied at the waist. Her dark hair, which has a red highlight on one side, falls in soft waves over her shoulders. She is smiling broadly with a friendly expression.

Kristal Sotomayor

Director

Kristal Sotomayor is a nonbinary Peruvian American director, producer, and journalist. Their debut narrative short Las Cosas Que Brillan is supported by BlackStar. Their film Expanding Sanctuary (OTV/Kanopy) won the Philadelphia Filmmaker Award at BlackStar and Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens, which won Best LGBTQ Documentary at Poppy Jasper.

  • Runtime 21 minutes
  • Country United States
  • Language Spanish, English
  • Director Kristal Sotomayor
  • Cast Linda Hernandez
  • Cinematographer Kristal Sotomayor
  • Composer Jorge Corante
  • Editor María Luisa Santos
  • Producer Kristal Sotomayor
  • Screenwriter Kristal Sotomayor
  • Sound Design Nayuribe Montero Jiménez, Tinta Stereo Audiovisual
  • Premiere East Coast

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