Community Impact Film Series — Immigration
FREE | Registration Required
Join us for the next Community Impact Film Series event focused on Immigration. This free community event combines film, conversation, and resources to educate, engage, and empower our community. The evening will feature a film screening, a panel discussion with community leaders and experts, and a resource fair connecting attendees with organizations and services that support immigrant communities. Together, we will explore the challenges, contributions, and experiences of immigrants while fostering understanding, dialogue, and meaningful community action.
10:30–11:00 AM: Resource Fair
11:00–11:15 AM: Music by La Brava
11:20 AM–1:00 PM: Film Screening – Gazelle
1:10–1:45 PM: Post-Screening Discussion
1:45–2:00 PM: Music by La Brava
2:00–2:30 PM: Resource Fair
Food Provide By Vitality Bowls Super Cafe.
GAZELLE — Set in the liminal spaces of immigrant New York, Gazelle traces the inner and outer journey of Yakup, a Turkish music teacher exiled by political turmoil. As he fights to bring his family from Turkey, his days dissolve into a blur of menial jobs, shifting allegiances, and gnawing solitude. Between the labyrinth of U.S. immigration law and the peril of illicit escape, his reality becomes a fragile negotiation between hope and despair. A psychological drama of longing, resilience, and fractured identity.
Virtual Panelist — Nadir Sarıbacak (Writer & Director) is an acclaimed Turkish actor and filmmaker based in New Jersey. His career spans landmark works in Turkish cinema and television, including Winter Sleep (Palme d’Or, Cannes 2014), Ivy (Sundance 2015), Magnificent Century: Kösem, and Leylak (Special Jury Mention, Tribeca 2021). His performances have earned multiple Best Actor honors, from the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival to the Istanbul Film Festival.
Known for his layered and deeply human portrayals, Sarıbacak now brings that same emotional precision to Gazelle, his debut feature as a director.
Panelist: Héctor Vaca Cruz is a Latino Documentary Photographer based in Charlotte, NC. He was born in New York, raised in South Carolina, and brings a unique perspective to his work shaped by his Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican heritage. His journey into activism started through skateboarding and the punk rock scene. In college, to make his and other voices heard, he self-published the zine Stress Factor Reduction Program. Currently, Héctor works as the Immigrant Justice Director for Action NC. His work empowers immigrants to lead the movement for justice and equity. Additionally, he is the Community Engagement Director at the Latin-Led OBRA Collective Gallery and is among those who founded the Visual and Performing Arts Center. Through photography, Héctor explores themes of privilege, racism, colorism, classism, and identity. His visual imagery sparks dialogue with the goal of better understanding these issues and finding solutions. More importantly, his images provide a voice for those stifled by systems of privilege and prejudice.
Panelist: Gloria Zavaleta is a Charlotte-based visual storyteller and cinematographer whose work documents the people, movements, and creative communities shaping North Carolina. Guided by the belief that art, music, and food foster conversation, connection, and change, she has spent the past decade capturing the voices of artists, musicians, and community leaders.
Her work has centered on collaborating with women-led organizations, nonprofits, and grassroots initiatives advancing a more vibrant and inclusive arts community. In 2020, Gloria co-founded Concord Community Activists, helping organize community education and abolitionist efforts that contributed to national attention for the wrongful incarceration of Ronnie Long, who was pardoned after 44 years.
Gloria has served on the leadership team of We Rock Charlotte for five years, supporting music and film education for marginalized communities. She was a 2024 Spring Resident at McColl Center, where her project What We Hold Sacred explored community stories through documentary photography. Her work has been exhibited throughout Charlotte, including Los Fotografos: In This Moment at Obra Collective. In 2026, she and fellow Charlotte artists received a $20,000 Arts & Science Council grant for Protect the Web, a community art initiative supporting immigrant and refugee communities.
Through photography and film, Gloria creates work that preserves stories, strengthens community, and inspires collective action.
Moderator: Katrina Simonds has been a Charlotte native for the past 10 years and loves being involved in the local community. She first joined Independent Picture House as a volunteer for the Charlotte Film Festival before becoming the Operations & Volunteer Coordinator, where she now works closely with volunteers and helps keep things running behind the scenes. She’s passionate about bringing people together through film and creating an inviting space for everyone who walks through doors.
Performance Artists: Liza Ortiz (La Brava) is a Charlotte, North Carolina–based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music blends electro-pop, Latin rhythms, and Caribbean influences into a sound that is both joyful and deeply expressive. Performing under the name La Brava, Ortiz draws from her Puerto Rican and Venezuelan heritage to create vibrant, genre-crossing music rooted in storytelling, community, and cultural identity. In addition to her solo work, she has performed with Charlotte-based acts including Bravo Pueblo and CHÓCALA, helping shape the city’s contemporary Latin music scene.
Made possible through the generosity of Kathryn & Luke Kissam.