In recognition of World Refugee Day, this World Policy Salon brings together the film’s producers and immigration experts for a discussion of the ecosystem of global migration issues in the award-winning film Who is Dayani Cristal? 

Deep in the sun-blistered Sonora Desert beneath a cicada tree, Arizona border police discover a decomposing male body. Lifting a tattered t-shirt, they expose a tattoo that reads “Dayani Cristal.” Who is this person? What brought him here? How did he die? And who—or what- is Dayani Cristal?

Winner of the Sundance 2013 Cinematography award and nominated in the World Documentary Competition, Who is Dayani Cristal? follows the discovery, identification and repatriation of a migrant found dead under a cicada tree 20 minutes south of Tucson. Gael Garcia Bernal retraces the dead man’s steps along the migrant trail through Central America and Mexico. In an effort to understand this final journey, he embeds himself among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border. He experiences first-hand the dangers they face and learns of their motivations, hopes, and fears as they travel north — giving us a rare insight into the human stories which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.

Presented by the World Policy Institute, CultureStrike, and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.

Lina Srivastava, Transmedia Producer for “Who is Dayani Cristal?” and social impact strategist

Sarnata Reynolds, Senior Advisor on Human Rights, Refugees International, and author of the “Who is Dayani Cristal?” ibook

Moderated by Michele Wucker, President, World Policy Institute, and author of LOCKOUT: Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When Our Prosperity Depends on Getting it Right

RSVP to politicalsalon@worldpolicy.org. AAWW friends and members attend for free.

About CultureStrike

CultureStrike seeks to support the national and global arts movement around immigration. We are a network of artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and other cultural workers who want to fight anti-immigrant hate by bringing out the stories of migrants and creating counter-narratives about migration. We commission, publish, and broadcast new art, writing and media, featuring a wide range of literature, art and ideas in our online magazine of culture and politics. As a grassroots organization, we’re cultivating collaborations between artists and activists, and exploring new models for cultural change. We send writers and artists to the frontlines of immigration struggles, organize pro-migrant cultural events. Our website has published poetry, fiction and journalism that broadens cultural perspectives on the immigrant experience.

About World Policy Institute’s Arts and Policy Incubator: Examining Migration through a Cinematic Lens

The work of many photographers, visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, poets, and writers deals with the same challenges that keep policy makers up at night. By connecting the creative and policy camps, we can create wider audiences for artists’ work and engage more people in addressing issues like sustainability and human rights. World Policy Institute’s Arts and Policy Incubator brings together artists whose work addresses social challenges with policy thought leaders to find creative ways to reach hearts & minds –and, in turn, activate hands and feet.

About World Policy Institute

A center for global thought leadership, the World Policy Institute focuses on the crucial but neglected challenges and opportunities of an increasingly interconnected world. We stress innovative, transformative thinking; diversity of ideas; and a global perspective. World Policy Journal, fellows, events, and policy projects provide channels for supporters, thought leaders, decision makers, experts, and citizens to identify, debate, and develop constructive solutions.