Over a decade of working on immigration issues in the U.S., Theo Rigby has collaborated with myriad organizations that fight for the rights of immigrants, from local non-profits, to large National orgs. As a Director, Producer, and Cinematographer, Theo has created videos for select organizations to further their missions. Theo also does client work for a host of other companies, you can see a wider variety of his client work by viewing this Vimeo Gallery.
Client: UC Berkeley Undocumented Student Program
Client: Mission Neighborhood Health Center
Client: NAKASEC
Client: San Francisco Interfaith Council
Client: USP
Client: USP
Client: USP
Client:Active Voice
Client: E4FC
After returning to San Francisco from the U.S./Mexico border, where Theo told the story of the struggle of a mixed-status family, he decided to start an after-school program for undocumented students to tell their own stories. Beyond Borders was started with grants from the San Francisco Arts Council and Cal Humanities and the program brought together 11 youth with 11 photography mentors. The group met once a week for four months and the youth learned basic photography, storytelling, and each student created a personal story with images, and sound. The program culminated in a powerful community event where all of the stories were shown. ‘Noe’s Story’ was later selected as part of the 2009 Human Rights Watch Film Festival and was screened at Lincoln Center.
Watch four of the youth-created videos below:
Theo Rigby is a director, cinematographer, and interactive storyteller based out of San Francisco. He has been creating stories focusing on the immigrant experience in the United States for over the last decade and is the founder of iNation Media. Theo recently finished Waking Dream, a short documentary series about young undocumented people with DACA permits that was funded by ITVS and distributed on the IndieLens Storycast Youtube channel. He is currently in production on Sanctuary Rising, a feature documentary about the faith-based Sanctuary movement. Theo’s past projects include Immigrant Nation, The Caretaker, The Mayor, Marathon, and Sin País, which have been nationally broadcast on POV, showcased on the New York Times, and screened at film festivals around the world. Theo has been recognized with an Immigrant Rights Leadership Award from the City of San Francisco, is a 2018 JustFilms Rockwood Fellow, 2020 Jewish Film Institute Fellow, 2021 Logan nonfiction fellow, and won a Student Academy Award for his film Sin País. His work has received support from the MacArthur Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, ITVS, San Francisco Foundation, and the Emerson Collective among other foundations. Theo graduated with a M.F.A. in Documentary Film from Stanford University and before making films was an award-winning photojournalist working for major newspapers and magazines around the world.