Private Project

The Cleaning Lady

Over a decade ago, a loving mother of three, Marisol Reina, crossed the Mexico-U.S. border to provide a better life for her family, today she moves back home in hopes to reconnect with the family she once had to leave behind.

  • Ericka de Alexander
    Director
  • Carlos Ibarra
    Producer
  • Andrew McLain
    Producer
  • Ericka de Alexander
    Producer
  • Noémie Sornet
    Associate Producers
    The First Color, If The World Was Ending
  • Trisha Golec
    Associate Producers
    The First Color
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Drama, Verite
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    4,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Mexico, United States
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:85
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Ericka de Alexander

Ericka de Alexander is a Mexican-British writer/director/producer, and actress. She focuses on magical realism and drama genres, with a touch of Mexican and Japanese cultures. Her short film, "The First Color", is a story that explores relationships of a family living with ALS and finding hope, which she directed and co-wrote. It premiered at the "LA Shorts International Film Festival" in 2020. "The First Color" was picked up for distribution by The Disorder Channel. Ericka obtained her Bachelor's Degree in TV and Film Production from the University of Southern California in 2019.

Ericka is a writer, producing director, and one of the main actors in the magical realism queer dramedy, "If the World Was Ending" which premiered on Youtube in December of 2022.

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Director Statement

While there are many documentaries about immigration and its politics, this one is about the journey of a multi-layered undocumented immigrant, Marisol Reina (pseudonym), who lives as an invisible citizen of the United States, while working as a domestic worker who moves mountains to secure a better future for her and her loved ones living in the homeland she left behind. Her family thanks her for her sacrifice, yet resents her for leaving them.

Ultimately, this documentary explores the “what is it that makes this all worth it” for so many fragmented families who immigrate to the U.S. without a path to legal residence.

Our documentary explores the sacrifice, fragmentation, and reunification of Mari's family.