THE UNAFRAID Documentary

The LEAD Office, Honors College, Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education +LGBTQ Resources, Film and Media Studies, and the School of Business are partnering together to bring the feature length documentary THE UNAFRAIDWe are excited to share that we will be screening the film and having a Q/A following the film with Heather Courtney, one of the featured co-directors.

RSVP TODAY for the film screening and Q/A with co-director.  Link to RSVP: https://theunafraidscreening.eventbrite.com


They are undocumented. They are unapologetic. They are…

THE UNAFRAID
A documentary by Anayansi Prado & Heather Courtney


Full Frame Film Festival – Winner,  2018 Kathleen Bryan Edwards Award for Human Rights 


THE UNAFRAID is a feature length documentary that follows the personal lives of three DACA students in Georgia, a state that has banned them from attending their top state universities and disqualifies them from receiving in-state tuition at any other public college. Shot in an observational style over a period of four years, this film takes an intimate look at the lives of Alejandro, Silvia and Aldo as they navigate activism, pursuing their right to education, and fighting for the rights of their families and communities.

THE UNAFRAID shows us what it means to grow up both American and undocumented in the United States.

Heather Courtney is a Guggenheim fellow and an Emmy-winning filmmaker. Her film WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM won an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award, and a SXSW Jury Award. She has directed and produced several other documentary films, including award-winners LETTERS FROM THE OTHER SIDE and LOS TRABAJADORES/THE WORKERS, both focused on immigration issues and broadcast nationally on PBS. She has been funded by ITVS, the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, and the Austin Film Society, as well as a Fulbright Fellowship and an International Documentary Association award.

GMU Visiting Filmmakers Series: The Unafraid with Heather Courtney is sponsored by University Life, Film and Media Studies, Film and Video Studies, Honors College, the LEAD Office, the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education + LGBTQ Resources, the School of Business, DKA, Global Affairs and Global Programs, Women and Gender Studies, Honors and Mason DREAMers.

For more information, see GMU FAMS or contact Cynthia Fuchs at 703 993 2768.


Learning Outcomes

  • Discover what it’s like to be American and undocumented in the United States
  • Identify the barriers and challenges students who are American and undocumented in the United States face each and every day
  • Recognize how students who are American and undocumented in the United States navigate activism, pursuing their right to education, and fighting for the rights of their families and communities
  • Discuss in the open Q/A the difficulties and challenges students who are American and undocumented in the United States face, as well as engage in conversations that allow for us to better support and advocate for our students

Heather Courtney – Co-Director/Producer/Cinematographer
Heather Courtney is a Guggenheim fellow and an Emmy-winning filmmaker. Her film WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM, she won an Emmy, an Independent Spirit Award, and a SXSW Jury Award. The film received positive reviews from the New York Times and the Washington Post, and was broadcast nationally on the PBS program POV. It made several Top 10 films of 2011 lists, including Salon’s Best Non-fiction, and was supported by many grants and fellowships including from ITVS, the Sundance Documentary Fund, the United States Artists Fellowship, and POV/American Documentary. Heather was also a fellow at the Sundance Edit and Story Lab. She has directed and produced several other documentary films including award-winners LETTERS FROM THE OTHER SIDE and LOS TRABAJADORES/THE WORKERS, which both focused on immigration issues, and were broadcast nationally on PBS. She has been funded by ITVS, the Sundance Documentary Fund, the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Latino Public Broadcasting, and the Austin Film Society, as well as a Fulbright Fellowship and an International Documentary Association award.