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New immigrant & refugee visions : films by and about immigrants

Author

Qin Li

Call Number

  • DVD 304.873 N53233 (CEN)

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Publication Information

Boston, MA : Community Supported Film, [2019]

Physical Description

1 videodisc (111 minutes) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

Campaign for a new American: "An Indian immigrant's daughter campaigns to be elected as the first woman of color to the city-council of a working class town that has always been a magnet for immigrants. The town, 38% new immigrant, is still being run by the offspring of last century's immigrants. Win or lose--the new folks on the block will sooner or later take the reins of power and responsibility--or will they?"--Community Supported Film website.

She's an American child: "A dilemma of identity. A life of uncertainty. A woman facing domestic violence in the Dominican Republic escaped to the United States with her toddler daughter. The woman remains undocumented and her now 22-year old daughter has been granted protection by the US government through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Will one or both be deported? Will the daughter end up in country she has not set foot in since she was five years old?"--Community Supported Film website.

Navigating hope: "'A refugee is that person who has lost everything in his life. But he hasn't given up his hope.' Compelling words from a man who lived over 17 years in a refugee camp in Nepal, where he had fled as a boy with his family to escape persecution as Christians in their Buddhist country of Bhutan. Arriving as a man in the United States nearly two decades later, he finds new hope and help in a "big country" he had never heard of as a child. As his life of freedom grows, he chooses to work two different jobs helping other refugees from many countries to build on their hope and navigate the challenges of their new life in America."--Community Supported Film website.

Lifting your hope: "Choreographer Jean Appolon struggled for years to find a sense of belonging in his native country of Haiti and in the United States. He discovered his purpose and his own healing in teaching dance to motivate and heal community members of all ages and backgrounds and engage them in celebrating their own cultural heritage."--Community Supported Film website.

Seeking settled ground: "From the killing fields of northern Myanmar (Burma), a young Rohingya man, persecuted as a Muslim, escapes near certain death or imprisonment by walking to Thailand. On a boat with 500-600 others he floats from country to country seeking refuge. 2-plus years later, from a refugee camp in Indonesia, he is granted asylum in the United States. He desperately misses his family, but is grateful to be alive and learning the ways of a new life that was inconceivable just a few months ago."--Community Supported Film website.

The arranger: "The Haitian community in the Mattapan and Hyde Park neighborhoods of Boston is almost completely self dependent, a condition common to many immigrant communities. The support they give each other helps families adjust and thrive. It also inhibits assimilation into the larger culture. One Haitian immigrant helps other newly arrived Haitian immigrants deal with all the practical aspects of life in the US and in doing so highlights the self-supporting and isolated nature of many immigrant communities."--Community Supported Film website.

Pulse of a dream: "Why are so many Ugandans in the healthcare industry in the US? How do different ethnic groups end up pigeon holed in particular industries: Vietnamese flooring refinishers, Ugandan health workers.... So many immigrants are funneled into fields that they have no interest or experience in solely because that's where other immigrants from their home country work. A Ugandan immigrant turns the camera on himself and his family as they struggle to understand the pros and cons of leaving their lives and careers in Uganda for a 'better-life' in the US."--Community Supported Film website.

Rhythms of respect: "Jorge Arce, a Puerto Rican dancer, musician, educator, and political activist, engages people of all ages through dance and music. Through history and rhythm, through movement and melody, Jorge brings people together to celebrate our shared heritage and to transform communities. "When you see the audience coming out, dancing, singing, playing the instruments... and they don't want to stop... There's changes of behavior there. Changes of attitudes. There is acceptance also. There is recognition. And there is respect"."--Community Supported Film website.

Worlds apart at home: "A Somali family escaped the conflict of their home country. Now they navigate a conflict between parents and teenagers--one trying to fit in to their adopted inner-city American culture and the other trying to hold on to their Somali traditions."--Community Supported Film website.

Borrowing fire: "In Ethiopia, growing up, we used to go to the neighbor and say, 'Can I borrow some fire?' because we didn't have matches. So people take a little fire and go back to their kitchen and start their own fire." Yonas tells this story to his congregation as an analogy for their relationship with God, borrowing God's "fire" to warm and feed their own lives. It also symbolizes what Yonas sees as his purpose as an immigrant. After a long period of hardship in his early days in the US in big northern cities, he found restoration in the Bible and moved to the rural South to help people struggling with depression, homelessness and addiction. Contrary to stereotypes about immigrants and rural Americans, Yonas finds that his immigrant heritage, accent and personality actually open doors with people everywhere: in the gas station and two coffee shops he owns, and through his church, which began as a bible study group in his gas station. Every day he shares his own "fire" with people from all walks of life to help them find hope, heal and strengthen their lives, as individuals and as a community."--Community Supported Film website.

Notes

Title from container.

DVD accompanied by 1 pamphlet describing individual films, 1 donation envelope, 1 bookmark describing a "Manifesto for Media Makers and Consumers," 1 advertisement placard for CSFilm, and 1 discussion guide including questions and issues to consider when watching the film, and an action toolkit for viewers.

"New Immigrant and Refugee Visions (NIRV) is a collection of documentary films made by new immigrants that provide a unique insider perspective on the integration challenges faced by immigrants and the contributions they make to our culture, economy and social fabric. The filmmakers made these short films to engage communities in dialogue about immigrants and immigration in the United States."--Community Supported Film website.

Contents

  • Campaign for a new American Worlds apart at home She's an American child Navigating hope Lift with your heart Seeking settled ground Arranger Rhythms of respect Borrowing fire Pulse of a dream

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