UNDOCUMENTED
The Film Synopsis

No matter where you stand on the hot button topic of immigration, this true story -- of one man’s journey from the world’s most dangerous city to where he is today at the top of his profession -- will not fail to touch your heart on the most human level.

Dr. Harold Fernandez is a top cardiac surgeon living and working in beautiful Long Island, NY.  But his story starts in Medellin, Colombia, once considered the drug and murder capital of the world.  Based on Dr. Fernandez’s book Undocumented, the film is a frightening, shocking, compelling, and inspiring story of struggle and danger, ultimately ending in triumph through unfailing love and the indomitable courage of the human spirit. 

Meet the Fernandez family: parents Alberto and Angela, who met, married and had two sons in the impoverished and extremely dangerous Medellin barrio of Antioquia.  Over the years of their life there seven members of their families were victims of unsolved murders.  Alberto and Angela had very little but risked everything to flee the poverty, drugs, gangs and violence of their city. They endured years of separation from their sons, parents and each other, suffering long hours and low pay to reach for the American Dream.

Join 13 year-old Harold and his 11 year-old brother Byron as they attempt to cross the perilous Bermuda Triangle in a small boat with 11 adult strangers during hurricane season to reunite with their parents in America, whom they had not seen for years.  Making the voyage even more perilous, neither boys could swim and there were no life jackets on board.  Follow Harold’s struggles to learn English, endure taunts, academic failure and hardships in his school years.  But through sheer perseverance, hard work and determination, he rises to be his high school valedictorian.   He then gets accepted to his dream university, and eventually to the top of his class at Princeton.  It is there that his terrible secret of being undocumented is revealed, endangering all he and his family worked so long and hard for.  But with the help of powerful allies and a sympathetic  judge with vision, compassion and empathy, he and his entire family are granted full citizenship.  Finally after graduating from Harvard Medical School and a grueling residency at Bellevue Hospital he reached the pinnacle of his profession, where he excels today.  A humble man who has never forgotten his roots and struggles to overcome them, he is highly regarded, respected and beloved by his patients, staff and colleagues.

His is the ultimate American Dream story, and puts a human face on the bitter debate about immigration.  In today’s political climate we believe this story is needed NOW more than ever.