INTRODUCTION
During my undergraduate work back in Venezuela, I wanted to make news reports because I admire the power and beauty of truth. Although I learned how to produce news and consider myself a journalist, I was missing something. I wanted to work with stories based on realities, that would stay on the screen for a longer period than two to three minutes – the standard news time per package. Moreover, I wanted to combine the power of reality content and the elegance of cinema – something that is not relevant in the T.V. world due to the need for immediacy. Furthermore, I wanted to express a personal voice through my work, which led me to start a filmmaking career to learn how to produce documentaries. In the fall of 2013, I applied
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Immigrant Stories is a 40-minute documentary that seeks to address the misinterpretation of immigration in the United States. It is directed to two groups: non-immigrants who dream about being immigrants based on an American Dream or what they watch in the media, and Americans who perceive immigration as a negative issue due to misconceptions.
As mentioned previously, I am an international student and I consider myself a migrant which, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), can be understood as, “‘any person who lives temporarily or permanently in a country where he or she was not born, and has acquired some significant social ties to this country’" (UNESCO Par.1), consequently, the producer of Immigrant Stories is directly related to the subject.
Accordingly, Michael Moore, a well-known American filmmaker, suggests in his article Michael Moore’s 13 Rules for Making Documentary Films, “It’s important to make your films personal. … People want to hear the voice of a person” (Par. 24), a story about the American dream from the perspective of immigrants is a theme selected following a personal interest on immigration, which is the first topic discussed.
The second topic of the documentary is The American dream. Before coming to the United States, I knew the perspective of internationals regarding this subject. Although a formal definition of
Humanity is ever so much more complicated than one could have ever imagined. Humans can thrive on change, but ultimately look for something to declare as home. In search of this home people travel long distances and risk everything they have. When an American contemplates the word immigrant, one imagines the countless people from Mexico crossing into our country or the refugees that hope to make this country their home. What eludes most of us, however, is the reality that most people were, at one point, immigrants to this country and that our forefathers came here exactly the same as refugees come today. What is brought to mind when I hear the word immigrant is hope and perseverance. I remember the countless people who have traveled here
Since Amin Ahmad immigrated into the United States from India, he has real life experience that contributes to his claims. He is able to connect specific occurrences he faced with immigrants like himself, and their comparable situations. He explains that, “my passport tells the story of my immigrant life: my student and work visas; all the entry and exit stamps as I traveled between India and the United States” (Ahmad 38). His passport is a constant reminder of the journey he has traveled and the experiences that define him as a person. Ahmad demonstrates a perspective of immigration that is unique to many. Not only has he made the steps towards leaving his country, he has successfully created a life for himself. He has lived in the United States for a long period of time and even has an American fiancé. With this unique situation, he can connect with a vast amount of different people, both citizens and immigrants.
Many immigrant and minority narratives concentrate their efforts on the positive side of the American dream. These particular stories narrate a person's struggle and rise through the ranks of the Am6rican hierarchy focusing on the opportunities that seem to abound in this country. While these stories are well and good. they do seem to soft peddle the flip side of this country's attitude toward the immigrant and minority. America is a land of milk and honey and opportunity, but unfortunately most new officiates or unwilling participants in the American culture face an American nightmare that leaves its effects on the individuals, families and cultures
The documentary, “Immigration Battle’’expose the problem of race and ethnicity with immigrants in the United States. The immigration Battle shows that United States of America is a country with a diversity of multicultural religions, races and nations. United States is a nation of many immigrants but this country still being racial until today. It is hard to see how immigrants are being treated and kept from their rights and need to be hide for the fear of being deported. The video shows a bipartisan immigration reform in the election of Obama’s by passing a common ground between Democrats and Republicans.
Since Amin Ahmad immigrated into the United States from India, he has real life experience that contributes to his claims. He is able to connect specific occurrences he faced with immigrants alike himself, and their comparable situations. He explains that, “my passport tells the story of my immigrant life: my student and work visas; all the entry and exit stamps as I traveled between India and the United States” (Ahmad 38). His passport is a constant reminder of the journey he has traveled and the experiences that define him as a person. Ahmad demonstrates a perspective of immigration that is unique to many. Not only has he made the steps towards leaving his country, he has successfully created a life for himself. He las lived in the United States for a long period of time and even has an American fiancé. With this unique situation, he can connect with a vast amount of different people, both citizens and immigrants.
The American Dream is something many Americans desire. The desire to the mind – set or belief that anyone can be successful if they worked hard for what they’ve been yearning. It is considered to be a ‘perfect life’; it can be full of money, contentedness or even love. There are many divergent opinions given by people. Walter Younger from Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ and Willy Loman from Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of the Salesman’ both have their own views on the American Dream and how it can be achieved. Walter Lee Younger, a
Throughout life, every individual must face obstacles; some more difficult than others. In the story “The Trip” by Laila Lalami, poem “Exile” by Julia Alvarez, and article “Outlaw: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas, there is a main character who has to face many challenges because of the fact that they’re immigrants. In all three texts, it is evident that being an immigrant has many affects on their lives. However, this label and the obstacles that come with it didn’t stop each character from pushing forward.
Kennedy. American identity is shown in the story by talking about how immigrants shape our country in many ways. Immigrants help our country by spreading their culture in things like food,songs,games etc.. Another way the story shows American identity is America is a country of all different people and all different cultures which helped shape this county. The story “The Immigrant Contribution” shows American identity in a lot of ways.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and
The creators of the documentary Dream On, produced and directed by Roger Weisberg and narrated by John Fugelsang, set out on a journey across America to uncover the story of the American Dream told through the lives of the 95 percent. Alexis de Tocqueville, author of Democracy in America once defined America as “a place where anyone could climb the ladder of economic opportunity” after traveling across our country in 1831. Dream On follows Tocqueville’s journey in the pursuit of the American dream after decades of rising inequality and declining
the “American Dream” a dream that is unreal. The American dream was intended for people of
Many people have come to America for adventure, opportunity, freedom, and the chance to experience the particular qualities of the American landscape. The American Dream is the idea that every United States citizen, including immigrants and residents, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. America somewhat provides access to the American dream, it is more so the citizen who provides access to the dream for themselves. Even though they encountered many trials and tribulations, with persistence, people such as Langston Hughes in “I Too Sing America and Anzia Yezierska in “America and I” they were able to achieve their individual American Dream.
The term “American Dream” is one of the triggers that lead to the shores of the USA many thousands of immigrants, it had a deep meaning for them, and it was first introduced to us by an American writer and historian James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book called “The Epic of America”, where he gives the definition of the term how he said “The American Dream”, by saying
The American dream has many meanings but only one that matters, which is having a job that you enjoy and appreciate and for your freedom to be known. The Public Broadcast Service published videos that explored the daily realities of the New York working class. One video followed the experiences of Walid Abdelwahab. He is a well known cart vendor working on the streets of New York city he traveled all the way from Egypt to succeed and have a better lifestyle. Walid has been vending all of his life to help support his family; however, he has faced many rigor moments but he still continues to work with a smile on his face, no matter what happens. This supports the existence of the American dream because he moved from a different country leaving everything behind so that him and his family can live a happy life.
Propaganda of the American dream in the earlier parts of our country was promoted through the ideas of our government and the known ability to be free. This eventually evolved into propaganda by entertainment such as posters, newspapers, film and anything that would reflect on a large audience . In this day in time, we get most of our propaganda through television. The cause of this is the increase in popularity of watching television or films over reading books. If this were not happening people may get their view of the American dream through literature ranging from the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin to Mark Twain's “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, which promote the American Dream as it was intended. So, the role of American Films acting on the thoughts of Americans is changing just as quickly as technology, for retrieving information at least. Knowing this, the propagandist role of the American dream through film