By Desa Philadelphia

The short documentary A Lien, which is nominated in the narrative shorts category at this weekend’s Academy Awards, spotlights a harrowing episode in the life of Oscar Gomez, an undocumented American or “Dreamer” in search of the chance to rectify his status as a citizen. The film is both beautiful and sad, and although it only runs 15 mins it is a solid representation of all the elements of good filmmaking coming together.

The quality of the filmmaking reflects the work of SCA alumnus Rebecca Eskreis '11, who produced the short, working in collaboration with Sam and David Cutler- Kreutz, the brothers who co-wrote and co-directed the film. Eskreis said she took the project on because in addition to a great script, she knew it would be impactful.
 
“I loved the script. I loved the message,” she says. “I knew it was like no money, and lots of time. I've made enough movies to know that. But, you know, I met with Sam and David, and I could tell they had a very clear vision with their work, and I was like, ‘let's let's do this.’”
 
The many hours of work included the months and months Eskreis and Production Designer Megan Bell spent searching for the right locations to portray the immigration offices in which Gomez and his family join others who are earnestly hoping for an opportunity to gain legal status. “What I looked at it from my perspective was, how do we make this movie with no money and make it look like we believe their terror of the situation. We believe that we're actually in this government building, everything about it,” says Eskreis. “You know, audiences are so perceptive the minute that something feels off or it's not believable, it takes us out of the movie. And we're not in it anymore. And I was like, in order for everyone to believe this story. They have to believe the locations. They have to believe the costumes, they have to believe, the graphics they have to believe they have to believe the world.”
 
After graduating with a master’s from the Film & Television Production Division Eskreis pursued a career in development but decided the executive life wasn’t for her. She moved back to her native New York City and landed an opportunity with Jonathan Demme’s production company. “I started out as his directing assistant, and then became a producer in his production company,” she says.
 
The experience she gained with Demme gave her the confidence to strike out on her own. And having worked as an executive, a director, and a producer, Eskreis sees no reason to limit herself to any one path. “You know, I've sort of reached the point in my career where I'm like. ‘I'll direct, I'll produce. I'll write. I'll do whatever it is, if it's a cool project, and I like it,’” she says. “It’s unscripted. It’s scripted. It's documentary. Whatever it is. If I like it.”