Nezza’s national anthem performance at Dodger Stadium will have its moment at Sundance

A short documentary will feature what many consider an act of bravery right at the start of L.A.’s immigration raids that broke out during the summer of 2025. 

"La Tierra del Valor" (The Home of the Brave) will be among ten short documentaries that will screen in competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

When R&B artist Nezza garnered widespread attention after performing the U.S. national anthem in Spanish at a Los Angeles Dodgers game on Sunday, June 15, she made more than a statement. Her performance was just days after the Department of Homeland Security conducted a substantial immigration raid operation in Los Angeles and surrounding counties on June 6, which continues to this day. 

She went against the team’s wishes not to sing the anthem in Spanish to honor the immigrant community during ongoing ICE raids. The singer, whose family comes from the Dominican Republic, later posted a video saying she was banned from the stadium. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers faced backlash for making no statements addressing the incident with the singer or the ongoing immigration raids in Los Angeles.

Director Cristina Costantini was inspired by Nezza’s actions and decided to create the short documentary, which will premiere at Sundance. It will also be available online for the public. Costantini will also premiere her long feature documentary “Sally,” about astronaut Sally Ride. 

“I come from immigrants,” Costantini said in a post on her short documentary. “I was raised on a vision of America that meant families like mine could belong, could build, could live without fear. Watching the promise of our country collapse this summer, as ICE agents terrorized mothers, babies, nurses and day laborers, gutted any hope I still had left.”

Then, she said, she saw Nezza: “It was an act of defiance, a refusal to shrink when institutions and politicians cave. In a moment when so many chose comfort, she chose courage. And for the first time in a long while, she made me proud to be an American again.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized a Spanish-language version of the anthem in 1945 as part of efforts to strengthen ties with Latin American allies during World War II.

“El Pendón Estrellado,” was written by Clotilde Arias, a Peruvian composer who worked in New York City writing radio jingles.

Throughout the full duration of the Festival, audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy daily screenings, talks, and events. Premieres will be held from Thursday, January 22, to Tuesday, January 27, in Park City, Utah. 

From January 29 to February 1, audiences nationwide will be able to enjoy curated program online at festival.sundance.org that will include all competition titles (U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic, World Cinema Documentary, and NEXT presented by Adobe), as well as additional selections from the feature and episodic programs and the Short Film Program presented by Ketel One Vodka. 

“We are looking forward to presenting these short films as part of our 2026 selection this coming January,” said Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival director of programming. “Each one is a testament to the creative talent working in the short film space, proving that powerful storytelling is impactful across formats."