In an interview, Mr. Attie, 61, discussed his most recent project, which will run through Sept. 27. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Why did you decide to spotlight former asylum seekers?

There are two answers to that. One is I have a long history of working with refugee and asylum communities. Also, it’s a topic of great urgency in this moment of our history. These are people whose lives have been saved by the United States. I couldn’t think of something more urgent to do.

How did you decide on the 12 people to feature in the film?

That process took a few months. We partnered with several legal advocacy organizations that were getting applications approved for asylum seekers. They came to trust us. They came to trust me. They opened their clients to us. I showed them my past work. I talked to them about what the idea was. I asked them what they thought. If they didn’t like the idea, this project would not happen. They loved the idea because it’s different. More specifically, I picked people who have character, strong faces, and people who would be good in front of a camera.

Where does this project rank in terms of logistical difficulty?

I’ve had more difficult and challenging projects and less difficult and challenging projects. The Berlin project was just guerrilla art. That was easy. That was me and four slide projectors.

This project, we started about two years ago. I took about six months considering what I wanted to do.