The Interpreters

Chain-smoking Iraqi “Phillip Morris” escaped his homeland in 2011 and landed in Minnesota via the U.S. Special Immigrant Visa program, a backlogged and often dysfunctional conduit for the tens of thousands of local interpreters who have risked their lives to help U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Despite the frightening, years-long wait for his visa to come through, despite his relentless immigration battles on behalf of his family left behind in Iraq, Phillip has fared better than many of his peers in a climate where accusations of treason often trigger a gruesome death sentence. Now living in Minneapolis, he personifies success for a visa program that was launched to protect people like Phillip but is threatened by rising anti-refugee sentiment.

The Interpreters follows the stories of Phillip and three interpreters who face the impossible decision of waiting for paperwork that may never materialize or attempting a hazardous exit route to Europe. Meanwhile, hope dwindles for the thousands of interpreters seeking survival as a reward for their sacrifice.