Set Hernandez On Their Groundbreaking Film “unseen”

The documentary follows Pedro, an aspiring social worker who is undocumented and blind in the U.S.

Photo by Ivan Carrillo

Set Hernandez’s ethos is incorporating community organizing and social impacts into their filmmaking. As a queer and undocumented filmmaker from the Philippines, they want to uplift similar experiences — both good and bad. Released in May 2023, Hernandez directed, produced, wrote, and edited “unseen.” The documentary follows Pedro, an aspiring social worker who is undocumented and blind in the U.S.

“unseen,” which recently won the 2024 Truer Than Fiction Award at the Independent Spirit Awards, unintentionally took seven years to complete. While the film was intended to display Pedro’s personal journey, which covers an unspoken margin, audiences perceived it as more of an advocacy story. The film is also accessible for people who are blind and have low vision — with features including audio descriptions, closed captions, enhanced transcript, and a pre-show audio description to understand the film’s visuals. From the pandemic to immigration status issues, the unintentional issues that caused the seven-year process prove the very purpose of why this film was made.

Hernandez met Pedro in 2015 while coordinating a program for undocumented young professionals. Pedro was a fellow at the program centering on healthcare justice for undocumented immigrants. When the conversation came up about the lack of acknowledgment of undocumented immigrants with disabilities, Hernandez knew it was time to do something about it — and who better to tell their story than Pedro?

“So much of the discourse at the time, up until now, is about undocumented people who have DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals),” Hernandez says. “Currently, less and less people qualify for DACA. The immigrant rights movement, and even our own movement embodied in immigration, sometimes limits the experience of whom we advocate for. For too long, the rhetoric has been about people who, unfortunately, do not embrace the experiences that Pedro lives in.”

One of the biggest challenges while creating “unseen” was the circumstances that caused the film to take so long to complete. Hernandez, who is also undocumented, was ineligible to apply, let alone open the application for grants, due to their citizenship status. There is a lot of irony in progressive organizations in the film industry claiming to fund projects about undocumented immigrants and not even allowing them to apply to achieve such projects.

Filming began in 2016, went on a hiatus from 2018 to 2021, and completed filming in 2023. Hernandez wasn’t the only undocumented filmmaker facing these experiences, so they co-founded the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective — bringing light to filmmakers who are undocumented and disabled.

Despite the obstacles, Coleman Domingo and Lily Gladstone gladly handed Hernandez the well-deserved Truer Than Fiction Award — an award they didn’t know they were even eligible of being qualified for as it was for “American” filmmakers. This award set it off for Hernandez and “unseen” as a domino effect. Since then, they’ve received recognition from an audience that has gone unnoticed — unironically making them feel “seen,” contrary to the film's title.

“When Pedro and I first started making the film, we had no expectations,” Hernandez says. “We were just two friends that were trying to lift up the film. Coming from the circumstances of our lives and how difficult it was to make the film, we were convinced that this film was never going to get made.”

Hernandez says even people who don’t necessarily resonate with the film somehow end up resonating with it. Whether a viewer learned more about themselves or others who share Pedro’s experience, most people walked away from “unseen,” wanting to learn and understand more about undocumented immigrants with disabilities.

It’s true that films portraying underrepresented communities are often created by people who are not of these underrepresented communities. Hernandez says they are most proud of the film and their team for authentically reflecting Pedro’s lived experiences, which were contributed by people under similar circumstances, helping their healing journeys as well.

“Many members of our team are also blind filmmakers, blind artists, artists with disabilities, and undocumented,” Hernandez says. “These people work in accessibility and mental health. Because our team is reflective of who Pedro is, I feel like it enriches the ability to convey the experience from a vantage point that’s not just superficial about identity but a really profound introspection of what it’s like to live from this vantage point.”

The team wanted to make “unseen” as enjoyable as it is accessible. Whether it’s a scene of Pedro swimming or a scene of the sky, Hernandez says they want to include as many sensors as possible—everything from smelling to hearing to feeling, and the enhanced transcripts and audio description heighten the entire film.

“unseen” is just the beginning of their filmmaking. They have another documentary and scripted project in the works and are using their platform to allow their artistic path to help create more films. Hernandez is happiest when they service the people they love and make others happy.

“If that involves making another film, then yes, because what I’ve come to realize is the film that I made has spoken to my loved ones, and it gave them a sense of catharsis,” Hernandez says. “If that’s one way I can be a service to my community and my loved ones, then I’ll follow that flow of life.”

You can watch “unseen” here and learn more about the film here.