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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.

The Keeper: The Legend Of Omar Khayyam

A young boy, Kamran, learns that the great 11th-century Persian poet Omar Khayyam was his ancestor. It becomes his responsibility to keep the oral history of his family alive. This is the first film of Iranian-American director Kayvan Mashayekh and stars Vanessa Redgrave.

Year Released: 2005

The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada

Tommy Lee Jones stars in and directs this unusual movie about promises, both kept and broken, and redemption. The truest expression of love in the film is between Texas cowboy, Pete (Jones), and his best friend, Melquiades (Julio Cesar Cedillo), who has illegally crossed the border for work. Barry Pepper gives a startling performance as a heartless-yet startlingly human- CBP officer.  An absolute must-see film.  The direction, acting, script and cinematography are top-notch and the non-linear structure affords the viewer multiple views of a complex cluster of incidents.

Year Released: 2005

A Day Without A Mexican

One third of the population of California is Latinos. How would it change life for the state's other residents if this portion of the population was suddenly not there? Director Sergio Arau calls his film a "mockumentary." Yareli Arizmendi, married to Arau, co-wrote and stars in the film.

Year Released: 2004

Bride And Prejudice

A Bollywood twist on Jane Austin's classic novel Pride and Prejudice, the conflict between Darcy (Martin Henderson) and Lalitha (Aishwarya Rai) is cross-cultural as she makes a choice between the man she wants and the man her mother wants for her.  Lively, colorful and delightful with stirring music and stunning sets. 

Year Released: 2004

Chasing Freedom

Chasing Freedom tells the story of a young Afghan woman (played by Layla Alizada) who is persecuted by the Taliban for running a school for young girls and the pro bono attorney (played by Juliette Lewis) who reluctantly takes on her asylum case after the woman is detained when she arrives at a U.S. airport in search of refuge. The film was inspired by a real asylum case handled by a team of dedicated pro bono attorneys for Human Rights First. It is a sobering depiction of the nearly insurmountable obstacles that many asylum seekers face when they arrive in the U.S.

Year Released: 2004

Hope Will Win Over Fear: The World Social Forums

This film explores the various meanings of the World Social Forum as an event and process as well as its historical importance coming out of 500 years of colonialism, developmentalism and neoliberalism. This film interprets the Forum through an organic fusion of Popular Brazilian Music (MPB), interviews and Forum footage, mixing an almost music video-like quality with interviews and analysis by Forum participants and social theorists.

Year Released: 2004

Maria Full Of Grace

This film is billed as not being based on a true story, yet it is something that happens every day.  Maria Alvarez (Catalina Sandino Moreno) lives a modest life in a rural area outside Bogotá, Colombia.  At 17, her work and life seem without a future, but Maria's nature is strong and assertive.  She meets Franklin (Jhon Alex Toro) at a party.  He is stylish and charismatic and tempts Maria with talk of work involving adventure and travel to America.  Maria becomes a mule in the dangerous drug underworld.  Johsua Marston (Bus to Queens, 1999) directed this film that won awards at Sundance and Berlin film festivals. 

Year Released: 2004

Mother's Crossing

The film tells the moving story of an Iranian woman and her two daughters on the run from their violent husband and father.  A human trafficker takes them on a dangerous journey trough the marshlands that separate Turkey from Greece.

Year Released: 2004

Spanglish

Mexican mother Flor (Paz Vega), enters the U.S. with her young daughter, seeking a better life. When she accepts a position as a domestic helper for an American family it becomes very difficult to maintain her privacy and distance. A story about assimilation, this film provides lessons on tolerance towards the good- but sometimes misguided- intentions of immigrants as well as the Americans who employ and befriend them. Also starring Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, and Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show 1971).

Year Released: 2004

The Gatekeeper

Mexican-American auteur John Carlos Frey wrote, directed, and starred in this film about a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent who turns vigilante and goes undercover to pursue those he sees as "undesirables" crossing the U.S. border from Mexico. Things go very wrong when he is caught in the midst of a Central American drug ring, surrounded by those he has long disdained. But Frey's character begins to see the people as individuals with families and the desire for a sense of "home". The most valuable lesson is, perhaps, that humanity knows no borders.

Year Released: 2004