Aaron I. Butler

Cries from Syria

An attempt to re-contextualize the European migrant crisis and ongoing hostilities in Syria, through eyewitness and participant testimony. Children and parents recount the revolution, civil war, air strikes, atrocities and ongoing humanitarian aid crises, in a portrait of recent history and the consequences of violence.

Out of Iraq: A Love Story

How far would you go to be with the love of your life? In 2003, in the midst of war, in a country where homosexuality is banned, two Iraqi men meet by chance and fall in love. Nayyef, a translator for the U.S. military, and Btoo, a soldier in the Iraqi army, face persecution, and possibly death, if they stay in their homeland. After obtaining a visa, Nayyef leaves his love behind, settling in Seattle with a determination to one day reunite with Btoo in a place where they can express their love freely and without fear.

Los Olvidados

Artist Ramiro Gomez advocates for domestic laborers through an art instillation in the Sonoran Desert, in tribute to his immigrant roots.

American Winter

Documentary feature film that follows the personal stories of families struggling in the aftermath of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Filmed over the course of one winter in one American city, the film presents an intimate snapshot of the state of the nation's economy as it is playing out in millions of American families, and highlights the human consequences of the decline of the middle class and the fracturing of the American Dream