July 25, 2024

The City of Framingham will soon be featured on the big screen, specifically at the 33rd Annual Woods Hole Film Festival on Cape Cod. Every year, the fest showcases the work of emerging independent filmmakers–like Spencer Cohen–whose film The Compatriots will be premiering at the event.

It’s a project that has been over 8 years in the making, and Spencer–who’s both the film’s writer and director–tells me that the inspiration behind its creation hits especially close to home. Spencer’s best friend Alberto was a Dreamer, an undocumented immigrant who arrived in the United States as a child. Alberto’s experiences are directly reflected in the film’s main character Javi, who despite living and attending school in the United States- and identifying as an American- faces the possibility of deportation. Spencer hopes this film will engage audiences and raise awareness about the struggles individuals like Alberto go through when navigating U.S. citizenship.

While Spencer is a Natick native, he noted that some of his and Alberto’s old stomping grounds were right here in Framingham, so you may recognize some of the locations you see throughout the movie!

The Compatriots is set to premiere on Friday, August 2nd at 8:30pm at the Redfield Auditorium. https://woodsholefilmfestival.org