About the Film
Five Years North is the coming-of-age story of 16-year-old Luis, an undocumented Guatemalan boy who just arrived alone in New York City. While Luis balances school, work, and his mental health, Judy, a veteran ICE officer and first-generation Cuban immigrant, navigates new immigration priorities.
Luis has come to the U.S. to make money for his family back home, all of whom depend on him for their survival. Getting by as a delivery boy and a cook, Luis faces all of the obstacles that come with being an undocumented worker, as well as the added burdens of being a child in a new country coping without his parents. Luis struggles with anxiety
and homesickness, as he tries to balance working full-time, complying with mandated participation in the NYC school system, and feels overburdened by social workers tasked with monitoring his every move. But above all, Luis lives in constant fear of being caught by ICE.
Judy patrols Luis’ Brooklyn neighborhood and must weigh the human cost of her work at ICE against the uncertain future her family would face without her paycheck.
The film is intimate and observational — following Luis, Judy, and Luis’ family back in Guatemala for more than three years to provide a fresh and valuable entry point to understanding America’s immigration system and its human cost on all sides.
Explore our Five Year North press kit for more information, film photos, and so much more.
Our Team
Chris Temple & Zach Ingrasci — Directors
Chris and Zach are filmmakers and the founders of Optimist, a non-profit production studio that creates films with impact. They are best known for directing the feature documentaries Living On One Dollar and Salam Neighbor. Their films have been released by Netflix, Amazon Prime, National Geographic, and The Atlantic. In addition to Five Years North, they recently directed the short documentary, The Undocumented Lawyer, that premiered at Tribeca in spring 2020 and on HBO in 2021.
Every film they make is accompanied by an impact campaign to empower the film’s subjects and its partner non-profits. Their projects have raised over $91 million dollars for the films’ causes, changing over 275,000 lives.
Jenna Kelly - Producer
Jenna Kelly is the producer of the feature documentary Five Years North and the short documentary, The Undocumented Lawyer. Before transitioning into the film world, she was a strategist for the communications firm GMMB.
Alejandro Valdés-Rochin - Editor & Co-Producer
Originally from Mexico, Alejandro is an award-winning documentary editor whose collaborations have released theatrically and digitally across National Geographic, PBS, Al Jazeera, Red Bull TV and Discovery. Alejandro’s recent credits include Maxima (Festival Favorite – Hot Docs 2019) and Science Fair (Festival Favorite – Sundance 2018).
Morgan Kays — Executive Producer
Morgan Kays is a board member of Optimist. She’s also the Executive Producer of the Tribeca short documentary, The Undocumented Lawyer, as well as the feature documentary Five Years North. She’s based in Los Angeles.
SJ Murray - Executive Producer
SJ Murray (PhD, Princeton; tenured faculty, Baylor) is an EMMY-nominated producer and writer, award-winning director, and the co-founder of Cork Studios. She lives in Austin, TX with her feisty wheaton poo, and sits on the board of the Summit Institute.
Tolu Olubunmi - Executive Producer
Tolu Olubunmi is a Nigerian-born political strategist and social entrepreneur. She sits on the Board of Directors of the USA for IOM (Un Migration Agency), served on the World Economic Forum’s Migration Council, and cofounded Immigrant Heritage Month. She was featured in the 2012 cover story of Time magazine.
Ari Rastegar - Executive Producer
Ari Rastegar has earned a reputation as a thought leader in real estate. The recent success of Ari’s real estate investment firm, Rastegar Property Company, has enabled him to pursue a longtime passion and acquire an independent film studio.
Kellie Rastegar - Executive Producer
Kellie Rastegar, now a successful entrepreneur and cofounder of real estate investment firm Rastegar Property Company, started her business career in the film industry. She served as Johnny Depp’s personal assistant during Pirates of the Caribbean. This film is personal for her, as her mother was born in Guatemala.
T. Griffin - Composer
T. Griffin is a Brooklyn-based composer who has made music for dozens of series and feature-length films. Notable titles include Boys State, Life Animated, One of Us, The Overnighters and recent Netflix series The Family and Unnatural Selection.
University of Virginia Center for Politics - Executive Producer
Since being founded in 1998 by Larry J. Sabato, the University of Virginia Center for Politics has worked to educate and inspire our citizenry about practical politics and civic engagement through programs that are unique, compelling, and open-minded — including producing four Emmy-winning documentaries.