A close-range film about distance, the short, poignant documentary “I’m Leaving Now” unfolds like a character study. It opens with Felipe Hernández , a Mexican man in Brooklyn, collecting recyclables in the early morning hours. The directors, Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda , establish the rhythms of his routine. The camera, apparently attached to Felipe’s cart, rattles as he trudges along.

This is just one way that Felipe earns money to send to family members in Mexico, from whom he’s been away for about 16 years. We see him doing janitorial work. He wears a shirt that says “US OPEN STAFF.” He lives in a spartan cubbyhole of an apartment. And from what we see, his relationship with his family consists almost entirely of phone conversations — and has for a long time.