William D. Caballero has made quite a stir since his genre-bending hybrid short film How You Doin’, Boy? Voicemails from Gran’pa became a viral sensation and landed a spinoff web series Gran’pa Knows Best on HBO’s innovative digital platform HBO NOW! That’s not to say that the 31-year-old Brooklyn-born Boricua hasn’t been on his grind for a long time now, but the filmmaker, composer, and multi-media storyteller is quickly becoming a staple of the Latino web series landscape.
Caballero’s latest digital endeavor in partnership with Univision, entitled Dreamer Generation, takes his trademark mix of testimonial audio and 3-D printed reenactments into more serious territory as he dramatizes the stories of a handful of undocumented youth. Consisting of eight three-minute videos, Dreamer Generation kicks off with an autobiographical segment that delves into Caballero’s own origins while giving a sort of mission statement to the project.
From there, Caballero brings us into the lives of seven young Latino DREAMers who share anecdotes and advice that put a human face on the struggle of undocumented youth and provide a powerful testament to their resilience and determination. From a Peruvian woman who suffered a traumatic accident as a child, to a young man whose mother was arrested and deported when he was only 15, each testimonial is accompanied by powerful music and creative reenactments that incorporate miniature figures and dioramas.
It’s a natural fit for Caballero, and the young artist shows a masterful command of the material, using his unique style to amplify the voices of young people whose stories need to be heard now more than ever.
Watch all the Dreamer Generation episodes here.