Event Details
This powerful documentary double feature spotlights immigrant communities and the struggles they face in the hopes of a better future. Paul Rosenfeld & MacPherson Christopher’s “La Liga” looks at immigrant dairy farm workers in rural Vermont as they endure harsh working conditions and the threat of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids while forging community, solidarity, and resistance through soccer leagues.
Jon Cox’s “A Return Home” follows journalist and Ukrainian refugee Nataliia Ruda as she heads to Ireland in search of fellow asylum seekers and refugees, each carrying their own story of loss and survival.”
The score for “A Return Home” will be performed live by the film’s composer, Jen Blyth. The double feature will conclude with a Q&A from both films’ creative teams.
A Return Home
Cox, 27 Minutes, Documentary, 2025
A stark and intimate story of displacement and resilience. Journalist Nataliia Ruda, from Ukraine’s Donbas region, lost her home and village to Russia’s invasion. To tell the story of Ukrainians fleeing far from their homeland, she traveled to Ireland in search of fellow asylum seekers and refugees, each carrying their own story of loss and survival.
La Liga
Rosenfeld and Christopher, 23 Minutes, Documentary, 2025
La Liga is a documentary film that focuses on immigrant dairy farmers in Vermont who, in the face of tremendous isolation, formed a pickup soccer league. It is about finding a sense of home in a new land, and of people coming together to use a national past-time to create a better future.
Guests:
Paul Rosenfeld, Co-Director (La Liga)
Paul Rosenfeld is a documentary filmmaker who was a producer on staff at The Atlantic in Washington D.C. Paul was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for two short documentaries chronicling the effects of housing discrimination in Chicago. His projects have been featured at film festivals across the country and have been selected for Vimeo Staff Picks.
Andy Bale, Lead Photographer (A Return Home)
Andy Bale earned his MFA from the University of Delaware and his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He is currently a Visiting Lecturer at Dickinson College in the Art and Art History department where his teaching focuses on photography. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in both group and solo exhibitions, and he has held residencies in Toulouse, France; 2008, Savannah College of Art and Design Lacoste campus (Lacoste, France; 2009), and Co-Existence Netii Apa Storytellers Project (Nashulai Maasai Conservancy, Kenya; 2023).
In 2013, Bale began working collaboratively with photographer Jon Cox, Associate Professor at the University of Delaware. This collaboration produced the traveling exhibition, The Ese’Eja People of the Amazon: Connected by a Thread, which was shown throughout the U.S., including the Peruvian Embassy (Washington D.C.; 2017), the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Washington D.C.; 2017), and The Field Museum (Chicago, IL.; 2020-2021.) Their current collaboration, Arrivals: What’s Left Behind, What Lies Ahead, has been exhibited across the U.S. and internationally, including the the Goodyear Gallery at Dickinson College (Carlsile PA, 2023) FX Gallery, Academy of Arts (Banska Bystrica,Slovakia; 2023), the Embassy of the Slovak Republic (Washington, D.C.; 2024), Atlantic Technological University (Galway, Ireland; 2024.) and The Trout Gallery (Carlisle, PA; 2025.) As part of the Arrivals project Bale helped to create two documentaries, The Faces of Arrivals and A Return Home. Both documentaries have been accepted into international film festivals with A Return Home being awarded, best documentary short film and best film trailer at the Crown Point Film Festival in 2025, and best music in the London Filmmakers Festival in 2025.
Jennifer Blyth, Composer (A Return Home)
Lauded as a “compelling” (Washington Post) and “first-rate” (American Record Guide) artist, Jennifer Blyth’s performing schedule has taken her to twenty-three states throughout the United States. Internationally she has also appeared as a concerto soloist and recitalist (solo and chamber) in South Africa, Canada, England, France, Iceland, Germany, Spain, Italy and Australia. Blyth has given lectures, masterclasses, open lessons and participated in residencies across four continents and has performed at venues such as Chicago Art Institute, Constellation-Chicago, the World Financial Center, Steinway Hall, New York and many more. She has performed with David Kim (concertmaster Philadelphia Orchestra), Jack Sutte (trumpet, Cleveland Orchestra), Jeffery Zeigler (Kronos Quartet), John Richards (JACK Quartet), Awadagin Pratt, and groups such as Alarm Will Sound, the Ying String Quartet, the Corigliano String Quartet, Heare Ensemble, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
Recognized for innovative programming, Blyth’s performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, Canadian Broadcasting Commission, Australian Broadcasting Commission National Radio, Icelandic National Radio, 1Africa Radio and the Australian Broadcasting Commission Television Network. She has recorded with Musica Omnia and Innova Recordings. Her principal teachers include Stephanie Coleman and John Roberts of the Conservatorium of Western Australia and Barry Snyder of Eastman School of Music where she also taught for four years as his assistant. She completed her Master’s degree and Doctorate majoring in Performance and Literature at Eastman and was also awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. Blyth is currently Professor of Music at Dickinson College.
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