“Migra! Migra! … ICE!” someone cries out in Spanish. Whistles are blown as burly masked men get out of cars and chase a young Latin American man through the streets, manhandle him to the ground and handcuff him. This is October 2025 in Chicago, during Operation Midway Blitz, part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants who are branded as terrorists. The arrest attracts attention. Alarmed residents rush outside, some still in their nightclothes, and bombard the Border Patrol arrest team with questions. The situation escalates quickly: questions give way to shouted abuse, pushing and shoving, a collision and tear gas.
This example of Trump’s controversial and aggressive anti-immigration policies was filmed on residents’ phones and the arrest team’s body cameras, footage that was released as a result of a lawsuit. The resulting collage of images, often shown in split screen, captures the anger of local residents, the unease of the officers, who are themselves Latino, the resignation of the man being arrested, and the speed with which a peaceful neighborhood can erupt into chaos.
Stills
Dead Angle is a multi-year focus program that uses documentary cinema to reveal what remains outside our direct field of vision. This year, it explores the act of finding common ground: how people come together through solidarity, collective resistance, community and public space.
Dead Angle is supported by Vfonds
