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Film Reviews

Many of these feature-length films can be found on www.imdb.com or www.amazon.com. Movies are arranged by year and then alphabetically by title. A special thanks to Sheela Murthy for compiling many of these films.

While some movies deal directly with immigration as a theme, others are slightly more nuanced yet still touch on the topic. If you know of an immigration-themed movie that is not on this list, please let us know.

Haiti: Redemption Songs

This film explores the tumultuous past uncertain present and precarious future of Haitian political song. It is the story of the Samba, or "Roots" singer whose music has spoken the language of freedom for years in Haiti. Weaving together intimate interviews, lush photography, stirring music, mythology, historical footage, and an unconventional narration style based on Haitian folklore, this experimental documentary is truly a unique film experience.

Year Released: 2005

La Tragedia De Macario

Writer, director, editor Pablo V

Year Released: 2005

Missing In America

Within minutes your heart is captured by Lenny (Miss Weizenbaum's character), a darling young half Vietnamese girl whose American father is dying of lung cancer. The story deals with the multitude of issues that war veterans have to struggle with, and does so within a heartwarming and sometimes comedic--but always realistic--context. It is a story of healing, but with a plot has some surprising twists.

Year Released: 2005

Mojados: Through The Night

Director Tommy Davis tags along with four migrants from a small village in Mexico as they leave their families and embark on a 120 mile trek across the deserts of Texas, attempting to evade the U.S. Border Patrol. They must overcome dehydration, hypothermia and come face to face with death.

Year Released: 2005

Night Of Henna

A film by Hassin Zee that takes place in San Francisco, this independent production is about Hava (Pooja Kumar), who has returned to the United States after a traditional upbringing in Pakistan. At the very time when her eyes are opened to the possibilities of life, her new outlook is threatened by an impending arranged marriage. Director Zee is a true auteur, writing, directing and producing his films.

Year Released: 2005

Out Of Status

Before 9/11, there was an implicit understanding between the INS and immigrant communities that people who had applications pending to legalize their status could reside in the country until an application was approved. After 9/11, for South Asians and Arabs, the rule changed. The Muslim community, today, is alone among the vast immigrant population to face such targeted enforcement. Out of Status follows four families whose lives were permanently altered when a member of their unit was secretly detained or deported.

Year Released: 2005

Quinceañera

A jury prize and audience award winner in the U.S. drama competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer wrote and directed this look into the life of an unconventional family and their Los Angeles neighborhood, threatened by urban development, gangs and drugs. 

Year Released: 2005

Return To Afghanistan

Return to Afghanistan begins with Baktash Zaher's story but winds up being more about its filmmaker, Vida Zaher, a woman who finds herself on the front lines of the confrontation between West and East. As America wrestles with its desire to bring democracy to Afghanistan and the rest of the Muslim world, this up-to-the-minute account is very germane and absolutely fascinating. Vida Zaher's story is the gripping study of an American woman caught in an existential struggle- she is pulled in one direction by the Eastern/ Islamic emphasis on destiny controlling one's life and in another by the western determination to excersize her free will.









Year Released: 2005

Rights On The Line: Vigilantes At The Border

Rights on the Line: Vigilantes at the Border exposes the ugly anti-immigrant politics that lurk behind the Minuteman Project and shows the continuum between official border militarization and vigilante action. This video was shot by human rights activists and residents of border communities. It documents the story of border tensions from the point of view of those affected, and reveals the underlying motivations of the vigilantes through interviews and disturbing footage of their nighttime patrols. Co-produced by the AFSC, ACLU, and WITNESS.

Year Released: 2005

Romántico

Romántico is a tale of two Mariachi musicians who come to San Francisco, trying to make a better life for themselves and scrape out a living. Eventually, Carmelo Sanchez has to return to Mexico to care for his ailing mother. Directed by Mark Becker.

Year Released: 2005