Together in Time: Alan Domnguez on the Common Themes in his Films and Sundance Institute's Support

By Alan Dominguez

Recently I have been thinking about the intersection of two elements of my creative work - time and community.

Timing is everything, or so we're told. In my Chicanx/Indigenous community, I have found time is not always on our side - It's not the right time, Things take too much time, Wrong place/wrong time - the list is endless. Lately I realize that time can also nourish the lifeblood of a storyteller. To that end, I have been engaged in film projects in which the subject of time is never far from my thoughts.

I've been working with director Ra l Paz-Pastrana in producing Commerce City, a film that explores what exposure to harmful chemicals emitted from an oil refinery has done to the Colorado community where we make our home and raise our children. Our friends and neighbors in Commerce City have endured these cruel realities for decades and it is the passing of time that has revealed the immense toll taken.

However, we refuse to make a film that wallows in that reality. We are capturing what the community is doing about the exposure as they look to the future. Time has worked against the residents of Commerce City, but time is also of the essence for themselves and their loved ones - as well as for our crew as we move to finish the film and inspire action in similar communities of color that have long-suffered similar effects of environmental racism.

Time is also on my mind when I think of Jeanette Vizguerra - the participant of a film I'm in the midst of finishing. An undocumented immigrant, Jeanette has spent the past eight years living in and out of a Denver church basement in an attempt to stay with her family. Mujer Santuario (Sanctuary Woman) shows not only Jeanette's determination to stay in the only home that her children have ever known, but also her tireless work to help others in the same situation. Since March 2025 she has been locked inside an ICE facility, so for her, time is the most cruel of elements.

LINK:	https://www.sundance.org/blogs/together-in-time-alan-dominguez-on-the-...
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