What is Melt?

Melt is a 12-15 minute short film, written and directed by Antonio Roche, a third-year MFA Candidate at American University.

Trump’s presidencies have raised lots of questions for my beloved Latino community. How should we react? With fear? With resistance? What should we do if we’re detained? Melt explores yet another question: How do Latino ICE agents justify their work? In this piece, we follow Ildemaro, a Latino ICE agent who’s forced to make a decision that will either break his heart or uproot his life.

Why We're Making this Film

Melt was born out of a desire to look inward. During and after Trump’s presidencies, conversations around immigration often focused on fear, survival, and resistance within the Latino community. This film asks a less explored question: what happens when the person enforcing these policies is also Latino? By following Ildemaro, a Latino ICE agent, Melt explores the emotional and moral conflict that arises when identity, duty, and survival collide. The film does not offer easy answers. Instead, it invites audiences to sit with discomfort and consider the personal cost of complicity within systems that harm one’s own community.

Our Team

Antonio Roche – Writer & Director

Antonio Roche is a third-year MFA candidate at American University. He is a first generation American whose first and only language was Spanish until he entered kindergarten and realized he could not understand anyone around him. Unlike many filmmakers who know from a young age that they want to tell stories, it took Antonio nineteen years to arrive at that certainty. Still, the signs were always there. His parents met while working in television, the arts came to him more naturally than sports, and his favorite subject in school was always history. After all, what is history class if not a more involved form of storytime? Growing up in a multicultural household, Antonio is deeply interested in telling Latino stories within an American context. Latinos make up the largest minority group in the United States, and he is eager to help elevate these voices through this project.

Ethan Kauffman – Producer

Ethan Kauffman is a senior Film and Media Arts student at American University and an emerging filmmaker drawn to character-driven stories that blur the line between reality and imagination. He has written and directed short narrative films, directed and produced short documentaries for the National Parks Service, interned in the natural history department of National Geographic at the Walt Disney Company, and most recently serves as an Associate Producer for the Upstream, Downriver Media Project. With a strong foundation in photography and media production, Ethan brings visual sensitivity and emotional depth to his work, using storytelling to explore the human experience in fresh and compelling ways.

How Your Support Helps

We are crowdfunding $20,000 to bring Melt to life. Your contribution will directly support:

Every dollar brings us closer to telling this story with the care and quality it deserves.

Why This Matters

We are students from American University committed to telling bold, empathetic stories that ask difficult questions. Melt explores moral conflict, identity, and the emotional cost of survival within systems of power. By centering a perspective rarely shown, the film aims to spark conversation and encourage audiences to reflect on the complexities behind the headlines.

How You Can Help

With your support, we can bring Melt into the world and start the conversations it’s meant to spark.

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.