JUS SOLI is a speculative fiction thriller set in a near future where the US government has passed a number of restrictive laws targeting immigrants, including banning non-citizens from owning real estate in the country. Lisa, a Chinese American woman in her late 30s recently separated from her husband, is suddenly called in to speak to the authorities regarding “some problems with her documentation.” She obliges, assuming it’s all a misunderstanding, but soon realizes that what is about to happen is more terrible than she could have ever imagined.

Director’s Vision

Though a work of fiction, Jus Soli is inspired in part by my own family history immigrating to America. My aim with the film is expand the discussion around immigration and migrant detention, which is often seen as primarily a Latinx issue, and recontextualize these as wider and deeper issues with long historical roots. In a moment where xenophobia and racism are constantly making headlines, I wanted to make a film that follows this rhetoric to its logical, absurd conclusion in a way that is also informed by our nation’s past. In looking at the effects a byzantine bureaucracy has on both the enforcers of these policies and those they target, my hope is to call into question the current inhumanity of our current immigration system.