Native El Pasoan Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera were special guests at the 2022 Plaza Classic Film Festival.

The husband and wife duo featured their own films including The Infiltrators (2020), a film that won multiple awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary followed a group of “Dreamers” who infiltrated a Florida migrant detention center and fought for the rights of the undocumented from within.

Since the premiere of their film, both Rivera and Ibarra became MacArthur fellows and received up to $685,000 in award. The MacArthur fellowships are considered one of the most prestigious awards in philanthropy.