Welcome to the Area 51 Podcast!
March 21, 2023

Move over RRR, 'Alien' has landed

Move over RRR, 'Alien' has landed

The term alien is used to describe any person not a citizen or national of the United States. Very welcoming right. We have all felt outrage being called an alien at some point during our stay here. One person actually decided to do something about it.  In this episode, we are joined by filmmaker Vidyut Latay to talk about her feature documentary film, Alien. Directed by someone who has first hand experience in navigating the immigration system,  Alien exposes the human toll of America's dependence on high-skilled legal immigrants. With the tech layoffs and a broken immigration system looming over our heads, there could not have been a better time for someone to showcase the plight of the community.  

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Vidyut Latay Profile Photo

Vidyut Latay

Documentary Filmmaker | UX Designer

Vidyut Latay is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her debut groundbreaking documentary "Beyond Silence" has screened twice on PBS-KVCR, at film festivals around the world, won awards, and was also invited to the Incloodu Deaf Arts Festival (the first multimedia festival of the arts in England for the deaf and hard of hearing). The film has been a part of the Gallaudet University and UCLA curriculum. The film was used by NIHH, India, to spread awareness about the lives of deaf people in India. The film, through NIHH (National Institute of Hearing Handicapped), was presented across the globe at conferences for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
In 2013, Vidyut was invited to sit on a prestigious panel of experts at the Clin d'Oeil Festival, Round Table of Directors in Reims, France. In Los Angeles, she worked with Producer Davis Guggenheim on award-winning documentary films: "Waiting for Superman" and "Kailash." She also worked as an Executive Director and was a Strategic Partnership Liaison for prominent film non-profits. Her work primarily involved guiding and supporting independent filmmakers. Internationally, she has worked as an executive producer for India's premier television networks, such as Zee TV and Zoom (The Times of India group).

Vidyut is the first filmmaker in the US to produce and direct a feature documentary about legal, high-skilled immigrants. Alien will broadcast nationally on PBS across its member stations in the fall of 2024. As both a high-skilled legal immigrant and a documentary filmmaker, Vi… Read More