We Can

Shortly after she totes her two children from Colombia to reunite with her husband in Queens, New York, Mariana’s (Paola Mendoza) life is devastatingly turned around when he abandons her to fend for herself in a hard-knock new country. Mariana desperately searches for work against the unwieldy city landscape, but she and her kids can’t help their treacherous slide into homelessness. Struggling to build a network of allies, like Preet (Sarita Choudury) a single working mother, to help provide for her family, Mariana resourcefully navigates a surprising avenue for making some money—the city’s recycling. With the help of her 10-year-old son, who must come of age early to keep his family together, and her young daughter’s charm, the family joins forces to face the odds together. —Roya Rastegar