Jean Jean

Jean Jean Dominican-Haitian an actor and director living in Montreal, Canada. Jean Jean became undocumented in the country in which he grew up when in 2013 the Dominican Constitutional Court passed a legislation that denationalized over 200 thousand people of Haitian descent. Ruling 168-13, better known as La Sentencia, dictates that all persons born to “illegal immigrants” or “persons in transit” since 1929 will not be entitled to Dominican citizenship and are, therefore, subject to deportation. Jean Jean’s debut in the film Carpinteros converted him in the first actor to represent the Dominican Republic in Sundance. Yet, due to the legislation Jean Jean is technically not Dominican. Carpinteros tells an important story that resonates internationally, including in the United States, where Donald Trump rescinded the DACA program and has escalated deportations at an alarming rate. Jean Jean sees himself as a DREAMer, one who arrived to the Dominican Republic at a young age and is still stuck in immigration limbo. These are the kind of struggles that come through in his documentary film “Si Dios quiere, Yuli” which follows his own mother, Yuli, in her struggle for documentation.

Interviews with Brenda and Jean Jean. View on Google Drive.


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