TheyDream
TheyDream
William D. Caballero
William D. Caballero
TheyDream is an animated documentary about the hopes and realities of William D. Caballero’s Puerto Rican-American family, plagued by health, financial, and social problems rooted in the systemic inequality in today’s America. As a sequel to the filmmaker’s autobiographical documentary American Dreams Deferred, this new work features photo-realistic 3D modeled characters inhabiting hand-built environments, highlighting the stories of real people of color, meticulously rendered in miniature. TheyDream creates a social dialogue highlighting the struggles of those living in poverty, as well as Puerto Rican communities living in the USA today, indicative of today’s forgotten American narrative. TheyDream won the 2026 Sundance Film Festival NEXT Special Jury Award for Creative Expression.
TheyDream premiered on January 23, 2026 at the Sundance Film Festival.
Animation, Documentary Film, Moving Image
2021
About William D. Caballero
Los Angeles, CA
William D. Caballero is a multimedia producer, director, writer and composer who tells big stories using small figures. Working primarily in the field of filmmaking featuring miniature 3D printed protagonists, his work examines American and Latino gender/sexuality, and existential identity. His creative mantra is “empower, enlighten, and express”, and it underlies his desire to spread the gift of creativity amongst diverse people, liberating them from the oppression of mainstream tastes and values. Born in Coney Island, New York and raised in North Carolina, Caballero obtained the Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship, and returned to New York City where he graduated from Pratt Institute and New York University. His animated projects have premiered on HBO, Univision, PBS, World Channel, and have debuted at hundreds of international film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Museum of Modern Art. Caballero received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018.
William D. Caballero is a multimedia producer, director, writer and composer who tells big stories using small figures. Working primarily in the field of filmmaking featuring miniature 3D printed protagonists, his work examines American and Latino gender/sexuality, and existential identity. His creative mantra is “empower, enlighten, and express”, and it underlies his desire to spread the gift of creativity amongst diverse people, liberating them from the oppression of mainstream tastes and values. Born in Coney Island, New York and raised in North Carolina, Caballero obtained the Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship, and returned to New York City where he graduated from Pratt Institute and New York University. His animated projects have premiered on HBO, Univision, PBS, World Channel, and have debuted at hundreds of international film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Museum of Modern Art. Caballero received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018.