"El Chester" is the story of three families, all asylum seekers making their way through New York’s immigration system which has been pushed to its limit. A unique and compelling collaborative documentary, it is filmed entirely by the asylum seekers themselves who capture via their phone cameras a raw portrayal of the challenges of their everyday life in the new city.
Directed, produced and assembled by veteran Spanish filmmaker Alessandra Zeka-- a long-time NY resident, and her community-based team, the project is a quilt of firsthand experiences that reveal what is both a revelatory journey and a cautionary tale, a social experiment, and a glimpse into the much-idealized American dream, and what price that dream demands.
It is a documentary like no other. A collection of voices, and daily moments captured spontaneously by the immigrants themselves. No filters, no scripts, no experts, no interviews just the “new” New Yorkers recording with their phones moments of loneliness, frustration, doubt, regret, but also triumphs of overcoming obstacles, building confidence, and discovering resilience in what can be the harsh reality of life in New York. The phone serves not just as a recording device but as a tool of liberation, a covert weapon, a catharsis - a pixel revolution.
While many immigrants have contributed footage, “El Chester” most closely follows three families over many, many months; Luis, and his seven-year-old son Mateo from Colombia, middle-aged Venezuelan couple Cesar and Tania, and the Ecuadorean family of four, Gabriela, Luis, and their two children. Their stories encompass a spectrum of experiences—from a first Christmas away from home to their first snowfall, from the daily struggles in shelters and temporary accommodations to personal conflicts and celebrations, revealing a complex web of navigating new systems.
This documentary is more than a collection of stories. It highlights the stark realities faced by these newcomers, setting them at the center of a contentious issue in a critical election year in the U.S. "El Chester" serves as a deeply intimate view of immigration in this moment, and an exposé on a city whose resources and infrastructure are pushed to their limits by this surge of over 180,000 hopeful new residents.