08/27/2026
SPECIAL SCREENING ~ THEYDREAM (William David Caballero, 2026, 91min, United States, NR, The Film Collaborative) theydreamfilm
MONDAY, 8/31 @ 1PM & 7PM
WINNER: NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression (Sundance)
THEYDREAM is a deeply personal autobiographical documentary that traces how art can become a lifeline in the wake of loss. Drawing on two decades of mixed-media filmmaking, Caballero revisits his family’s history in Fayetteville, North Carolina—interweaving new 2D and 3D animations with live-action vérité, archival materials, and raw, deeply human conversations with his mother.
Anchored in the death of his grandmother Isolina, the film follows Caballero’s mother as she spirals into grief and self-blame for not being at her mother’s side in her final moments. Rather than allowing her to retreat, Caballero hands her a camera and the tools of animation—inviting her to collaborate in bringing her mother back to life. Viewers witness her trembling first attempts to animate, the tears she sheds while performing in front of a green screen and recreating her mother’s voicemails, and the unexpected reawakening of her artistic power.
The film also confronts Caballero’s own unhealed wounds: from animated sequences featuring deceased relatives to a raw, emotional reckoning with his father about accepting his bisexuality. Tender, funny, vulnerable, and unvarnished, these moments reveal the fierce loyalty and imperfections of a Puerto Rican family navigating illness, identity, and generational trauma together.
Through a one-of-a-kind blend of miniature artistry, handcrafted figurines, digital rotoscoping, and full 3D motion capture, Caballero and his mother literally transform themselves into their ancestors—reanimating family stories with honesty, complexity, and profound love.
Ultimately, THEYDREAM becomes a cinematic act of survival: a testament to creative collaboration, intergenerational healing, and the ability of art to resurrect memory, restore connection, and guide families through the darkest grief toward light.
