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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.

Lana's Rain

Directed by Michael Ojeda.  Ukrainian-born actress Oksana Orlenko makes her American film debut in the title role which won her a Best Actress award in the Milan International Film Festival. Clinging to the only family she has left, Lana accompanies her brother, Darko (Nickolai Stoilov) to the U.S., leaving Croatia following the Balkan Wars. Darko has survived through criminal activity in Eastern Europe and this is the only way he knows of to get by. But Lana wants simple things and a new life in America.

Year Released: 2003

Living With Torture

Living with Torture is a 26-minute human rights documentary film about two African survivors of torture who came to the U.S. as asylum seekers and used their newfound freedom to continue to work tirelessly as activists for democracy. The film explores the contradictions they faced as the country in which they sought refuge debates the merits of using torture in its own war against Islamic extremists.

Year Released: 2003

Lost Boys Of Sudan

This award-winning documentary by Megan Mylan and John Shenk follows two children who were among an estimated twenty thousand forced from their homes and families by the 1987 civil war in southern Sudan. Most were only six or seven years old when their journey began. Of those who survived to reach refugee camps in Kenya, almost 4,000 were granted asylum in the US, given access to new lives and education. This is the story of two of those boys.

Year Released: 2003

Mariel Generation

Mariel Generation explores the current lives of Cuban-Americans who took part in the Mariel Boatlift. The film tells how these individuals have assimilated into existing Cuban-American society and the effects of race on the resettlement of Mariel Cubans.

Year Released: 2003

Mistaken Identity

Mistaken Identity reaches beyond the wrath of 9/11, into the general miseducation and ignorance of post- 9/11 America. Moments after the World Trade Center bombing, Sikh-Americans became victims of racial profiling, verbal abuse, physical attacks and killings nationwide, simply because they wore turbans and beards.

Year Released: 2003

Out Of Fear

Out of Fear is a 21-minute experimental documentary that conveys the personal experiences of five people who have travelled to Australia seeking asylum. Structured as a poetic essay, the film weaves together the stories of their journeys from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iraq relating their searches for refuge, their times spent in detention and of their lives after release.

Year Released: 2003

What's Cooking?

Four ethnically-diverse households celebrate Thanksgiving in Los Angeles. The Nguyen offspring are at odds with some of the traditional values of their immigrant elders. There are similar confrontations at the Thanksgiving celebrations of the Mexican-American, Jewish-American and African-American families. The general idea is that despite ethnic differences, families are basically all the same.

Year Released: 2003

Balseros

In the summer of 1994, a crew of television reporters with unprecedented access filmed and interviewed seven Cubans before they set out with their families as economic refugees on homemade rafts headed for US shores. The crew followed the survivors who were rescued at sea and transported to Guantanamo Bay, which was, at that time, the site of a temporary refugee camp. Seven years later, this same crew reconnects with their subjects to discover the outcome of their new lives in different regions across the United States.

Year Released: 2002

Bend It Like Beckham

This feel-good film, directed by Gurinder Chadha (A Nice Arrangement, 1994), is the story of Jesminder Bhamra (Parminder Nagra), daughter of strict Indian Sikh immigrants living in the U.K. Jess is a very gifted football player. Unfortunately, her parents are less than thrilled by this!

Year Released: 2002

Echando Raices-Taking Root

In the three 20-minute segments of Echando Raices, immigrants from diverse countries tell their stories of the struggle to seek new futures in the United States. The film focuses on immigrants and the communities in which they live in California, Texas, and Iowa. Stories and reflections from immigrants and refugees are woven together with scenes of community life. Also included are perspectives from scholars, union and community activists, local officials, displaced workers, and more.  The film features a vibrant soundtrack.

Year Released: 2002