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Plays in Shorts Program: Exodus
Saturday, June 13
7:45 PM - 9:00 PM

Regal Gallery Place

701 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

for all screenings

Water Cooler

Film Languages

English, Spanish

Director

Emma V.F.

Cinematographer

Emma V.F.

Composer

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe

Contact

emmaviewfinder@gmail.com

ICE agents wait in the hallways of an immigration court, scanning the faces of migrants arriving for hearings. When they identify a target, they move quickly, disappearing the person from view.

Between arrests, they pass the time with casual conversation—about brunch, coffee, everyday life. The dissonance is stark.

Filmed by Emma V.F. at New York’s Federal Plaza between November 2025 and January 2026, this observational short exposes a system in which the ordinary rhythms of bureaucracy mask the quiet violence unfolding in plain sight.

Content Warning: This film contains depictions of immigration detention and a reference to sexual assault. Viewer discretion is advised.
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Emma V.F.

Director, Water Cooler

Emma V.F. is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker based in New York City. Her feature debut QUEEN OF NEW YORK (2023) premiered as the New York Centerpiece at NewFest, the city’s leading LGBTQIA+ film festival, and is now streaming globally on Revry.

Her producing credits include Nanfu Wang’s IN THE SAME BREATH (HBO, Sundance 2021, Peabody Award), Raoul Peck’s SILVER DOLLAR ROAD (Amazon Studios), TAKE YOUR PILLS: XANAX (Netflix), The New York Times’ SORRY/NOT SORRY, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN UGANDA, which won the Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC and was named a New York Times Critics’ Pick.

She is a member of the Camden International Film Festival screening committee and serves as a regional representative for the Documentary Producers Alliance.

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