—In a Two-Part Hour, FRONTLINE Tells the Intimate Stories of Two Immigrant Families Whose Lives Are Upended by the Coronavirus—
Across America, the continuing coronavirus outbreak is taking a disproportionate toll on Latino people — whom data suggests are three times as likely to catch COVID-19 as white people, and almost two times as likely to be killed by it.
On Tuesday, August 11, in a two-part hour, FRONTLINE presents the intimate stories of two immigrant families whose lives have been upended by the pandemic.
First, in “Love, Life & the Virus,” director Oscar Guerra chronicles a 30-year-old mother named Zully’s fight to survive COVID and see her newborn baby, after giving birth on a ventilator and spending nearly three weeks in a coma — as her husband, Marvin, and older son, Junior, battled the virus as well.
The film tells the story of how, in the Guatemalan immigrant family’s moment of crisis, their community in Stamford, Conn., stepped in to help. Just before giving birth and being put into a coma, and with nowhere else to turn, Zully reached out to her older son’s ESL teacher, Luciana Lira — an immigrant herself — who would ultimately offer to take in the newborn.
“This baby would have not [stood] a chance if he went home with his father with COVID-19 and Junior,” Lira tells FRONTLINE. “He's just a preemie baby.”
“I would’ve turned into my son’s assassin,” Marvin says.
So Lira took the baby, Neysel, into her home: “I am willing to help, 100 percent,” she recalls saying.
As days become weeks, the film follows the struggle as Zully recovers, is released from the hospital, and as she, Marvin and Junior await the negative COVID tests that will mean it’s safe for Neysel to come home to them.
With extraordinary access to the medical professionals who cared for Zully and her baby, and those around her throughout it all, the film is a heartwrenching and heartwarming look at one family’s quest to be reunited — and the community members who helped make it possible.
“Maybe if I would have been in Guatemala,” Zully says, “it is possible that I may not have gotten better and I wouldn’t be telling this story.”
In collaboration with FRONTLINE, a Spanish-language version of “Love, Life & the Virus” will air on Univision’s newsmagazine program “Aquí y Ahora” on Sunday, August 16 at 7/6c.
In the hour’s second segment,“Undocumented in the Pandemic,” director Emily Kassie of The Marshall Project and FRONTLINE filmmaker-in-residence Ben C. Solomon team up to tell the story of another immigrant family’s struggle, with their dad detained by ICE in a facility where COVID is spreading. “Undocumented in the Pandemic” is supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Norma, along with her children, could no longer afford their apartment after her husband, Jesus, was detained following an argument. They moved in with Norma’s mother-in-law — but when she came down with COVID-19, the family could no longer stay with her.
“We have nowhere to go,” Norma says. “But we have to go.”
So begins Norma’s intense struggle to keep her children safe, housed and fed — while also working to get Jesus released as coronavirus cases rise at the facility where he’s being held.
“She’s the strongest person I’ve ever seen,” says Norma’s son Walter. “She wants to see us happy, together as a family.”
Filmed across several months, Undocumented in the Pandemic is a powerful window into how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting immigrant families.
“I believe that nobody deserves to live what we are living,” says Norma’s daughter Andrea.
Tune in or stream:
Watch the broadcast premiere Tuesday, August 11. Both films will also be available to watch in full at pbs.org/frontline and in the PBS Video App starting that night at 7/6c. It will premiere on YouTube at 10/9c.
A shorter, Spanish-language version of the film aired on Univision’s Aquí y Ahora on Aug. 16, 2020. This film is now available to stream on YouTube and PBS.org.
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Credits:
A FRONTLINE production with Five O’Clock Films in association with Guerra Productions. The writer, producer and director is Oscar Guerra. The senior producer is Frank Koughan. Undocumented in the Pandemic is a FRONTLINE Production with Five O’Clock Films in partnership with The Marshall Project. The directors are Emily Kassie and Ben C. Solomon. The producers are Emily Kassie, Ben C. Solomon and Will Miller. The senior producers are Callie Wiser and Frank Koughan. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
