Shortly after she totes her two children from Colombia to reunite with her husband in Queens, New York, Mariana's (Paola Mendoza) life is devastatingly turned around when he abandons her to fend for herself in a hard-knock new country. Mariana desperately searches for work against the unwieldy city landscape, but she and her kids can't help their treacherous slide into homelessness. Struggling to build a network of allies, like Preet (Sarita Choudury) a single working mother, to help provide for her family, Mariana resourcefully navigates a surprising avenue for making some money—the city's recycling. With the help of her 10-year-old son, who must come of age early to keep his family together, and her young daughter's charm, the family joins forces to face the odds together.

Basing Entre nos on true events, Paola Mendoza and Gloria La Morte collaboratively deliver a touching narrative marked by sympathetic characters, reflective cinematography, and solid performances. They bring a certain newness to the now-familiar immigrant story, and what shines through most is the graceful ferocity with which mother and children fight for their right to create a foundation, however shaky, from which to begin the promise of the American Dream.

Co-presented by

Colombia Consulate of New York

Paola Mendoza has continually tackled the effects of poverty on family and children in her films, which include her debut feature documentary Autumn's Eyes, the feature On the Outs (which she co-created and starred in), and the short Still Standing. She won the Panasonic Digital Filmmakers Award at the 2007 IFP Market Award. Entre nos is a selection of the 2009 Tribeca All Access program.

Gloria La Morte began her film career in 2000 as the writer and coproducer of the award-winning Details. She went on to coproduce the award-winning Washington Heights and was named best documentary editor for Autumn's Eyes at the 2006 Woodstock Film Festival. She edited Woven Ways and Connect USA.