When filmmakers Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini arrived in Arizona in 2011 to shoot a documentary about the fierce battles over immigration happening in the state, they found a lot of angry people. Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 – better known as the “Show Me Your Papers Law” – was the harshest US anti-immigration bill in recent memory. Passions flared on both sides of the debate, and what started as a local initiative to curb immigration became a major national story that ultimately, changed the landscape of American politics as record numbers of Latinos made their voices heard in the 2012 presidential election in response.

Sandoval and Tambini’s new PBS documentary, “The State of Arizona,” brings audiences up-close to the front lines of those debates. Maria Hinojosa speaks with the filmmakers on about how, through intimate interviews with both anti- and pro-immigrant activists, “The State of Arizona” tells a story about the resilience and power of American democracy.

Carlos Sandoval is the co-director/producer of the award-winning documentaries A Class Apart (American Experience 2009, Imagen Award), soon to be a major motion picture, and Farmingville (P.O.V. 2004, Sundance Special Jury Prize), which was about a small suburban town in the wake of the hate-based attempted murder of two Mexican day laborers.

Catherine Tambini is the co-director/producer of the award-winning documentary Farmingville. Ms. Tambini co-produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse, which aired on PBS’s Great Performances/Dance In America. Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, she holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.