Indefinite

Through the intimate testimonies of formerly detained immigrants and their children, Indefinite, filmed on black and white Super 8 film, unveils the human cost of an immigrant detention system operated by for-profit corporations with troubling human rights records—and it couldn't be more urgent.

The U.S. government recently allocated $45 billion to expand immigrant detention to unprecedented levels by 2029. The previous budgetary allotment was $3 Billion per year.

Violent arrests of immigrants by masked men employed by ICE are now commonplace, but the reality of the immigrant detention business, and the lived reality inside these privately-run prisons, remains largely hidden from public view. This film breaks that silence, offering rare, detailed accounts of daily life in detention—experiences that challenge official narratives and expose the true cost of privatized incarceration.

Shot on Super 8 in stark black and white, the film follows a group of formerly detained people, faith-leaders, and allies, on a journey to all ICE prisons in California. In 2024 there were six ICE detention centers; now, there are eight, including one former Federal prison that can hold 2500 people. 

The grainy, dreamlike quality of the imagery, combined with powerful audio testimonies, creates a contemplative space where viewers can absorb difficult truths—the anxiety of indefinite detention, separation from family, loss of dignity, and resilience of the human spirit.

Each voice carries its own story, yet together they form a chorus that reveals systemic injustice. The film refuses to sensationalize or exploit. Instead, it offers something more rare, quiet revelation through lived experience—and the irreducible humanity of those caught within a system that is built to isolate, demoralize, and force detainees to voluntarily deport themselves, rather than push back and fight for their right to stay in the U.S.