Jesse Dylan, Bob Dylan‘s son is carrying on his father’s mission of representing social issues in the arts by partnering with Univision to give a glimpse at what life is like for undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
The interactive video, produced by Dylan’s Wondros production company, can be viewed in either English or Spanish and shows the difference one highly-politicized document can make, and how a single piece of paper can change a family’s life.
Viewers can go back and forth between the same story from two different perspectives. One narrative shows a legally-documented immigrant family living in America. The other take shows the same family without documentation — and the immense struggles they face.
The storyline focuses on a father waking up as he gets ready for work. His wife prepares breakfast in her uniform as their daughter asks if she can go on a school field trip. However, as we soon learn, daily routines can differ widely depending on a family’s legal status in the U.S.
Titled “How a Single Piece of Paper Can Change a Family’s Life,” the video ends with some sobering statistics from the Center for American Progress: “If the undocumented immigrants living in the United States were granted legal status and citizenship now, the U.S. economy could gain an additional $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years.”
More than 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States with the largest populations in California (2.4 million), Texas (1.2 million), Florida (925,000), New York (750,000) and New Jersey (525,000).
“How a Single Piece of Paper Can Change a Family’s Life” is directed by Shane Valdes, produced by Zoe Shepherd, Camila Fernandez and written by Chiara Towne, Sara Worth. Jesse Dylan is credited as Creative Director.
Watch the video above and follow the hashtag #HiddenPotential.