Couple documents woman’s sanctuary
Espinal had been trying to avoid deportation
During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Edith Espinal was alone inside Columbus Mennonite Church still seeking sanctuary from threat of deportation, one area couple was creating a documentary about her experience.
Elisa Stone Leahy and Matthew Leahy, of the West Side, had been filming Espinal's experience in sanctuary since she entered on Oct. 2, 2017. While stuck inside during the pandemic, they decided to put it together into a documentary.
The resulting 25-minute film, “A Shelter for Edith,” will be shown for the first time at 6 p.m. Saturday at the New York Latino Film Festival. The festival is virtual and tickets are available on its website for $6.
Then on Oct. 2, the anniversary of Espinal entering sanctuary, the documentary will be shown locally at Columbus Mennonite Church on the North Side. (Details will be available on the Solidarity with Edith Facebook page.)
“We hadn't gone in planning to create a documentary,” Stone Leahy, 39, said. “It was, ‘What can we do to help Edith?' We were just documenting.”
The couple have been making films together for 10 years through their production company Noonday Films.
“When we first heard about Edith at our church, immediately I thought, ‘This is something I would love to document. I would love to follow this story,'”
Stone Leahy said.
The documentary opens in August 2020 with Gov. Mike Dewine's voice announcing a shut down. Then it goes to Columbus Mennonite Church, where Espinal lived for 40 months in sanctuary.
The filmmakers said they were inspired by the juxtaposition of the nation going into isolation, a place Espinal had been stuck for years already, Leahy, 40, said.
“We were complaining after a few weeks and she's been in isolation for a long time,” he said. “That had my wheels turning about the documentary. ‘OK, we're in isolation, she's in isolation, but she's in isolation for this bigger reason.'”
Leahy wanted audiences to think of that contrast, of the different fears that drove America and Espinal into isolation.
“Edith says that we have the same fear, but it's a different fear,” Stone Leahy said. “We all experience fear, we all have that threat and in that sense, that's something we have in common.”
Espinal, who is undocumented, entered the church in 2017 to avoid deportation and separation from her three adult children. Originally from Mexico but living in the United States for more than 20 years, she left the church on Feb. 18 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy guidelines changed to prioritize criminals.
Espinal, 44, said she's happy the two made the film.
She had mixed emotions when she saw it, Espinal said, speaking Spanish through a translator. She was happy to see the result, but sad to see herself during her time in sanctuary.
Stone Leahy hopes people see some of themselves in Espinal.
“I hope (they're) seeing Edith as someone just like us, who's had to go through something really difficult to keep safe and keep her family safe,” Stone Leahy said.
The story is about Espinal, but it's also about the community that surrounds her, Stone Leahy said.
The Leahys were there at multiple news conferences and rallies. They were at Espinal's daughter Stephanie's high school graduation and went to Washington, D.C., with some of her other advocates.
The film, and Espinal's situation, feel particularly special to Stone Leahy, who does a lot of behind-the-scenes work helping her immigrant friends.
“The amazing thing about Edith is she took this step to protect her family, but she took it in a very public way,” Stone Leahy said. “She has also brought a face and a voice to the immigrant community, especially those in sanctuary, in ways you don't often see.”
There are many immigrant stories that will never make it to the screen, she said.
During the filming, Stone Leahy spent a night with Espinal at the church.
“I was able to film some in the church and filming her there by herself at night just doing normal things like getting ready for bed and playing with her dog,” Stone Leahy said. “It feels very mundane. It also really encapsulates the isolation that she lived with for so long.”
That isolation can be hard to capture, she said, but the pandemic may have made it more relatable to people.
“That idea of not just being home and being isolated and being separated from what's normal to you ... but also this idea of being at home because of an outside threat,” Stone Leahy said. “We all had kind of a glimpse of that, but Edith has had that for so long.”
Leahy was struck by Espinal's longing for normalcy.
“She talks about very normal things, like wanting to get up on a Sunday morning with her family and go to their church and come home and have lunch,” Leahy said. “Trying to get the viewer to imagine what this could be like being in this confined space.”
Espinal hopes people see what it's like to live in sanctuary and see that she was able to fight.
“I've learned to be a stronger woman fighting for my family,” she said. “I will always be fighting for my family.” dking@dispatch.com @Danaeking