ABOUT THE FILM

LOGLINE

After 20 years of chronicling his Puerto Rican family, a director and his mother face devastating losses. Through tears and laughter, they craft animations that bring their loved ones back to life, discovering that every act of creation is also an act of letting go.

LONG SYNOPSIS

THEYDREAM is a deeply personal autobiographical documentary that traces how art can become a lifeline in the wake of loss. Drawing on two decades of mixed-media filmmaking, Caballero revisits his family’s history in Fayetteville, North Carolina—interweaving new 2D and 3D animations with live-action vérité, archival materials, and raw, deeply human conversations with his mother.

Anchored in the death of his grandmother Isolina, the film follows Caballero’s mother as she spirals into grief and self-blame for not being at her mother’s side in her final moments. Rather than allowing her to retreat, Caballero hands her a camera and the tools of animation—inviting her to collaborate in bringing her mother back to life. Viewers witness her trembling first attempts to animate, the tears she sheds while performing in front of a green screen and recreating her mother’s voicemails, and the unexpected reawakening of her artistic power.

The film also confronts Caballero’s own unhealed wounds: from animated sequences featuring deceased relatives to a raw, emotional reckoning with his father about accepting his bisexuality. Tender, funny, vulnerable, and unvarnished, these moments reveal the fierce loyalty and imperfections of a Puerto Rican family navigating illness, identity, and generational trauma together.

Through a one-of-a-kind blend of miniature artistry, handcrafted figurines, digital rotoscoping, and full 3D motion capture, Caballero and his mother literally transform themselves into their ancestors—reanimating family stories with honesty, complexity, and profound love.

Ultimately, THEYDREAM becomes a cinematic act of survival: a testament to creative collaboration, intergenerational healing, and the ability of art to resurrect memory, restore connection, and guide families through the darkest grief toward light.

Director William D. Caballero

Writers William D. Caballero, Brad Jones, Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Elaine Del Valle

Producers William D. Caballero, Brad Jones, Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Elaine Del Valle

Executive Producers Carrie Lozano, Sandie Viquez Pedlow, Grace Lay, Ina Fichman

Co-Executive Producers Megan Gelstein, Jamie Wolf, Nathalie Seaver

Co-Producers Colibri Creative Media, Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS

Supervising Producers Jun Stinson Yamagishi, Luis Ortiz

Consulting Producers Louis E. Perego-Moreno, Jannet Nuñez

Creative Advisor Dr. Jillian Báez (Hunter College)

Editor William D. Caballero

Cinematographers William D. Caballero, Brad Jones, Ben Premeaux, Antonio Cisneros

Story Consultant Viridiana Lieberman

Sound Design & Mix Ruy Garcia

Composer René G. Boscio

Animators William D. Caballero, Brad Jones, Jordin Goff, Frank Martinez, Julisse Tinoco, Erica Perez, Ashley Stephens, Cheryl Okonkwo

Miniature Props and Set Designers Gregory Pinsoneault, William D. Caballero

Actors Diana Alvort, Vic Rico

Cast Migdalia “Milly” Caballero, Guillermo "Chilly" Caballero, Isolina Aponte, Victor Muriel, William D. Caballero

FESTIVALS
2026: Sundance (World Premiere)

AWARDS
NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression (Sundance)

AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
The World

EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Digital Download