“Entre Nos is a bio/true story about a woman’s struggle to survive in New York City with her two children after being abandoned by her husband. The main character, Mariana, totes her two children from the country and culture of Colombia to reunite with her husband in Queens, New York. Her life is devastatingly turned …
“”In America” is not literally autobiographical (the real Frankie was Sheridan’s brother, who died at 10), but it is intensely personal. It’s not the typical story of turn-of-the-century immigrants facing prejudice and struggle, but a modern story, set in the 1980s and involving new sets of problems, such as racism and the drug addiction in …
Leo Chavez, UCI professor of anthropology and Chicano/Latino studies, has been researching immigration for more than 25 years. He has written a book on the ways immigrants are represented in the media and popular discourse in the U.S. Video by Kerrin Piche Serna, University Communications. Video: Leo Chavez: Why Immigration Reform Is So Difficult: Latinos as …
THE PAST OF CENTRAL EUROPE IS THE FUTURE OF EUROPE, AN INTERVIEW WITH ZYGMUNT BAUMAN Excerpt: Every process has its discontents, and diasporization is no exception. Denmark or the Netherlands, until recently symbols of openness and hospitality, turned into pioneers of barring immigration and reintroduced boundary control. And yet such resistance to diasporization may …
Hamid Naficy of Northwestern University is a leading authority of Iranian cinema His most recent four-volume series, A Social History of Iranian Cinema. Covers the Iranian cinema from late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first cinema. Hamid Naficy has published extensively about theories of exile and displacement, exilic and diaspora cinema and media, and Iranian …
Objects Through Time Migration Heritage Centre, Australia Online since 2010 “Objects through Time traces the history of migration of people, technology and ideas to our shores through a collection significant objects, spanning a 60,000 year time frame. It begins with the first migrants, the Aboriginal people who discovered and settled Australia, the Macassan and European …
America and Australia Rooms Institute of Migration, Finland Permanent Collection “America Room: What made people to move across the Atlantic Ocean? What was it like to travel a hundred years ago? What was life like in the new home country? What is Finnish American identity today? Completely renewed exhibition about Finns in America shows off the …
A collection of exhibitions which took place through 2013: The Terminal Live Art Project Mixed Flows in Southern Europe (March 2013) Migration Art Expo Tate London : Migrations (January-August 2012) SHIFT: dialogues of migration in contemporary art (April 2011) They Seek a City: Chicago and the art of Migration (March-June 2013) Belgian migration museum shows how one hop onto …
The Routes of Migration Online since 2007 DOMID “The website “Routes of Migration” retraces paths of immigrants and emigrants on a map of present-day North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). In doing so, it marks different “places of memory” in NRW, a province which has been uniquely shaped by migration. The website was developed in 2007, through the …
Adopting Britain: 70 Years of Migration Southbank Centre, London April–September 2015 “In this exhibition we explore ways in which, in the midst of Islamophobia and hostility towards immigration, people have reached out to communities that are stitched into the fabric of our country. We highlight stories from British recruitment campaigns in the Caribbean in the …
State of Exception Arizona State University May-August 2015 From the Undocumented Migration Project: “For Jason De Leon, the story of undocumented migrant workers’ treacherous trek northward from Mexico through Arizona is a complex, layered contemporary narrative best told by what isn’t said, and what is left behind. For the past four years, De Leon (photo …
Museum of Childhood October 2015–June 2016 London From their website: “An exhibition telling the heart-breaking true stories of Britain’s child migrants who were sent to Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries between 1869 and 1970. An estimated 100,000 British children were sent overseas by migration schemes, which were run by a partnership of charities, religious …
From The Irish Times: “Through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary, hundreds of thousands of migrants making for western Europe now rely on smartphones and social media to avoid police, find “safe” people smugglers and accommodation, and follow the latest news as governments grope for answers to a deepening crisis. “They make contact and share …
As hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees pour into Europe in search of a safe haven from the ongoing civil war, Humans of New York is relocating to the midst of the crisis.Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind HONY, wrote on Facebook on Friday that he would spend the next 10 days or so traveling through …
From the creator, Eduard Buturuga-Pascu: “Just before 2014 started, the media, encouraged by the PM started to spread disinformation about Romanians and Bulgarians immigrants, suggesting a ‘flow’ or a ‘wave’ is imminent. I’m trying to suggest that this is not true, and although immigration has to be sorted out, Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants will not …
From the artist’s website: “In 2008 I was carrying out fieldwork among a group of Egyptian immigrants in Milano, Italy, as part of my MA dissertation. There was a strong visual component to this research, and I took many photographs that I kept showing to my subjects and friends. With one of them, Osama el-Sayed, I …
Roald Seeliger presents a moving and unconventional infographic describing Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis.
From The America Media Podcast: “J.P., an undocumented immigrant for most of her life, speaks about why her family moved from South Korea to the United States, the challenges she faced as an undocumented immigrant and how gaining temporary legal status changed her life. She also discusses immigration reform legislation, the subject of this week’s editorial in America.”
Saravuth Inn was born in Cambodia and now plays chess for a living in Union Square. This short documentary is about how he got there and who he left behind…”
“The New York Public Library’s Community Oral History Project is an initiative taking place at NYPL branches that aims to document, preserve, and celebrate the rich history of the city’s unique neighborhoods by collecting the stories of people who have experienced it firsthand.” Featuring stories from members of many communities in NYC including Harlem, Greenwich …
From the musician: “When Director Damian Weilers came to me with the idea of using The Road as a soundtrack to the plight of those displaced in Calais, I knew that this could be a platform to focus attention on an issue we both felt was important. To me, this isn’t a political issue – …
“Home to Me: Immigrant Stories from NC” is a multimedia series from the NC Justice Center’s Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project based on the belief that stories told by immigrants, in their own words, have the power to change our assumptions about who immigrants are and deepen our understanding of the migration experience.
“Shelbyville Multimedia introduces you to the cast of Welcome to Shelbyville, a handful of straight-talking people in rural Tennessee who are taking immigration into their own hands – by welcoming newcomers. Developed by Active Voice, Shelbyville Multimedia is a platform to promote community-building and harmony between native-born Americans, immigrants and refugees nationwide. Many of its …
by Paul Kramer, The New Yorker. “The whole point of setting the border between Mexico and the United States at the deepest channel of the Rio Grande was that the river was not supposed to move. That was the thinking in 1848, when, following Mexico’s defeat by the United States and surrender of its vast …
MY DETAINMENT STORY OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP FEELING SAFE IN MY OWN COUNTRY AND HATE BORDER AGENTS* Earlier this month, OTM producer Sarah Abdurrahman, her family, and her friends were detained for hours by US Customs and Border Protection on their way home from Canada. Everyone being held was a US citizen, and …
A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, award-winning documentary The Overnighters is an intimate portrait of job-seekers desperately chasing the broken American Dream to the tiny oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. With the town lacking the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, a local pastor starts the controversial “overnighters” program, allowing down-and-out workers a …
Immigrants, migrants and refugees are often in the news — but why do people get up and leave their homes in the first place? AJ+ host Dena Takruri explains the root causes behind migration around the world.
The New Americans is a seven-hour American documentary that was originally broadcast on American television over three nights on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in late March 2004.
Forest fires burn in Sumatra; a smoke covers Kuala Lumpur. Grifters beat an immigrant day laborer and leave him on the streets. Rawang, a young man, finds him, carries him home, cares for him, and sleeps next to him. In a loft above lives a waitress. She sometimes provides care and attention. More violence seems …
A Review by Sumita Chakravarty: David Turnley’s powerful and moving documentary, Shenandoah, tells the story of a small, coal mining Pennsylvania town of that name in which an illegal Mexican immigrant was attacked and killed by a group of white teenagers in 2008. An exploration of the uneasy admixture of fear and hate with patriotism …
This video is from France’s Musee de l’Histoire de l’Immigration, located in the 12 arrondissement, next to the Bois de Vincennes. It tells the story of immigration in France through the lens of historiography, corroborated by over 350 archival documents that can be found in the museum’s collection. The video project consists of seven sections, …
Language of Belonging is a multi-platform education resource based on the ground breaking Indigenous animation Wadu Matyidi. Designed specifically for Primary-aged students, this diverse learning program explores Adnyamathanha language, culture, stories and traditions, encouraging students to develop their own portfolio and cultural understanding. This is an interactive game, based on the Wadu Matyidi animation, exploring the language and …
The New York Times charted how Americans have moved between states since 1900 with a variety of interactive data visualizations. Click HERE to see how each state has changed.
Syrian refugee Hashem Alsouki risks his life crossing the Mediterranean, his sights set on Sweden – and freedom for his family. In the darkness far out to sea, Hashem Alsouki can’t see his neighbours but he can hear them scream. It’s partly his fault. They are two African women – perhaps from Somalia, but now …
Eleven million people were uprooted by violence last year, most propelled by conflict in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Conflict and extreme poverty have also pushed tens of thousands out of parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Here’s a look at the international response to what has become the worst migration crisis since World War …
Migration museums cover human migration in the past, present and future. The current trend in the development of migration museums, named differently worldwide, is an interesting phenomenon, as it may contribute to the creation of a new and multiple identity, at an individual and collective level. The United States with Ellis Island, Australia, Canada, and more recently several European countries — e.g. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and …
Explore museums that feature exhibits on migration before visiting. Australia Immigration Museum Migration Museum, Adelaide Migration Museum New South Wales Migration Heritage Centre Argentina Museo Nacional de la Inmigración (See also: Hotel de Inmigrantes) Museo de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero Belgium The Red Star Line Museum Brazil Memorial do Imigrante Canada Pier 21 Immigrants to …
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum suffered the devastation of Hurricane Sandy firsthand. Now, more than two years after the storm struck New York City (and many other places), the building is celebrating its comeback with a new name: Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. Under this rejuvenated image, the museum will tell the story of …
100 Stories of Migration – To learn morevisit their website. Pop-up Migration Museum, in close collaboration with the Glasgow Museums and Glasgow Museums Open Museum service. For more info, clickhere. Series of ads produced by the Migration Museum of South Australia, in 2010, entitled ‘Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives’. Header Image Source: University of Leicester
Exhibition at MoMA: One-Way Ticket: Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and Other Works April 3–September 7, 2015 In 1941, Jacob Lawrence, then just 23 years old, completed a series of 60 small tempera paintings with text captions about the Great Migration, the multi-decade mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North …
LIST OF FILMS ON MIGRATION The Undocumented In the middle Farmingville I learn America The State of Arizona Your day is my Night Eternity and a day The Cloud Capped Star The Golden Thread The Name of a River Toni Dogville Ali: Fear eats the soul Black Girl Lilya 4-ever I don’t want to sleep …
“During this scene, you hear me say in the voice-over a line that came to me that day: “This is the oldest story, the very first book. The one that begins with an adventure. In it, we all play the main characters. We carry our hopes and virtues as our baggage … while never forgetting …
Immigration is one of the more complicated issues facing Americans these days and sadly we don’t see or hear about it very often. Below is a list of 10 great films that explore immigration. Some are more serious documentaries while others are narratives that incorporate some of the more human and historic issues of immigration. …
A collection of articles that highlight the intersection of journalism and migration. AUSTRALIA The Dream Boat Nov 15, 2013 [The New York Times] Joel Van Houdt: “Once You Are in the Boat There is No Way Back” Dec 9, 2014 Australia’s Shipwrecked Refugee Policy Mar 2013 [The Monthly] EUROPE Europe’s huddled masses Aug 16th 2014 …
Migration is a complex issue, the range of views is huge and strong positions are often taken – not surprising considering that discussion can involve ethnicity, religion, nationality, jobs, sex, food, personal habits, education, taxes, housing, dress, language, health and much, much more. How the print, broadcast and electronic media report these discussions is crucial. …
A database on the more than 28,000 migrants who died on their way to Europe since 2000. Winner of the Datajournalism Awards. Navigate through 2858 events, 72 territories, 14 detention centers and the13742 migrants for which some data is available. ABOUT THE PROJECT The Migrants’ Files project was launched in August 2013 by a group …
Source: Journalist’s Resource “Illegal” — the label used by many to describe immigrants who lack official documents — is more and more frequently being swapped out for terms like “undocumented” or “unauthorized.” In April 2013, the Associated Press pledged to purge “illegal” in its style book, reserving the term only as a descriptor for actions, …
Christopher Dickey talks to António Guterres, the United Nations’ high commissioner for refugees, about the world’s desperate, dispirited, and displaced. If there is one faint hope for major improvements in the lives of refugees at present, it lies in communications technologies. Even in the camps, cellphones now allow people not only to communicate but also …
Can mainstream media be assumed to reflect in a constructive manner upon one of society’s most salient issues – migration? If so, will migration coverage be able to provide a pertinent representation of the particular preoccupations and circumstances that come into play in each country? Moreover, do election campaigns influence media treatment of this sensitive, …
Source: Brookings The U.S. media have hindered effective policy making on immigration for decades, and their impact has been increasing in recent years as a result of an ongoing evolution in the media industry. Deeply ingrained practices in American journalism have produced a narrative that conditions the public to associate immigration with illegality, crisis, controversy …
This article was written by Aidan White and originally published at The Ethical Journalism Network on 09 June, 2014. One of the toughest tests of ethical journalism in Europe is the tragic story of migration involving thousands of poverty-stricken men, women and children from Africa and the Middle East – many of them fugitives from war …
At this briefing, hosted by the International Organization for Migration and the Migration Policy Institute, speakers discuss the critical issues surrounding women’s labour migration in the Asia-Pacific region and the related opportunities and challenges. The event marks the launch of the IOM-MPI Issue in Brief, Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges, …
Tackling Joblessness and Stunted Progression in the European Union This is the second panel from the day-long conference, “Better Work for Immigrants: Tackling Joblessness and Stunted Progression in the European Union,” held in Brussels and organized by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Europe in collaboration with the International Labour Office (ILO) and the European Commission. The …
After four years of war, Syrians are everywhere in Istanbul — on street corners, squatting in abandoned buildings. But a new venture run by Syrian and Turkish book lovers aims to be a cultural oasis for Arabic readers, and, along the way, give Turks a fuller picture of the Syrians, Iraqis and Libyans increasingly filling …
“While bachata may have originated in the Dominican Republic, its growth in popularity over the past 10 years is not rooted with in the shores of the small Caribbean nation but in the outer boroughs of New York City. It was here that the now-legendary bachata group Aventura formed. Aventura would go on to change the …
In May 2014, Yusor Abu-Salha (R)–one of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting in Chapel Hill–recorded a StoryCorps interview with Mussarut Jabeen (L), who was her 3rd grade teacher. In fact, all three of the victims–Yusor, her husband, Deah Barakat, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha–attended Jabeen’s school. Mussarut Jabeen returned recently to talk about Yusor’s death. …
There are probably as many terms for different kinds of English vernacular as there are vernaculars themselves: pidgin, patois, slang, creole dialect and so on. [From Public Radio International] CLICK HERE to listen.
Rainey is 13, her hair is tied back in a long ponytail. One of her favorite foods is tabbouleh, served on top of rice. She was born in Lebanon and she has grown up here, which explains her love of tabbouleh, a Lebanese salad made with parsley and bulgur wheat. But the Lebanese would never eat …
At American Experience, we believe that stories have the power to inform, inspire, empower, and even heal. We also believe that history is personal and often profound. Inspired by the Academy Award®-nominated film Last Days in Vietnam, which chronicles the harrowing final hours of the Vietnam War, we joined forced with StoryCorps to create the First …
The painter’s groundbreaking works trace the journey of African Americans out of the Jim Crow South. Jacob Lawrence was a painter, but he was also a storyteller of the first order. In his 1941 masterwork, “Migration Series,” Lawrence (1917-2000) unspools one of the foundational narratives of the modern United States: the journey undertaken by some …
“Migrating Lives/Vidas Migratorias features handmade books filled with personal stories of migration, many of them by unaccompanied minors who have arrived in the United States over the past 18 months from Central America. The books were created by students from Sherwood High School in collaboration with Beatriz del Olmo Fiddleman, the museum’s Community Artist in …
Gerald Machona is a Zimbabwean born visual artist, whose work engages with issues of migration, deeply investigating the social terrains where identity, space, social hierarchies and memory are constantly being re-constructed and negotiated. Ndiri Barman. “In my work, I have appropriated this masquerade performance strategies, one of which is masking, to negotiate my personal experience …
Objects left behind by undocumented migrants on their journey into the United States, including backpacks, water bottles, and border restrains, form the basis of this exhibition looking at the human experience of crossing the U.S./Mexico border. Viewers are asked to consider the complexities of the found objects through video and images created on location along …
a brave excursion into the dark waters of mass migration Anders Lustgarten’s drama boldly contrasts the lives of a fisherman retrieving the bodies of refugees drowned at sea and a Chinese-British woman who collects debts for a payday loan company British theatre is full of plays about domestic politics. What makes Anders Lustgarten exceptional is …
“Give me your tired, your poor; Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . The enormous disparity between the eloquent promise of the Statue of Liberty and the ongoing attacks against immigrants is enormous. Immigration to the United States varies broadly—who comes, why, from where, and when is emphasized in posters that speak …
“Oakland is a city in flux. As people from San Francisco and elsewhere migrate to Oakland in hordes, the physical and social architecture seems to be reconfiguring in real time. Amid such a transformation, divisive questions of ownership, authenticity, and belonging are at the fore of community conversation.” “Artist Favianna Rodriguez, who is known for …
Written by David Lamb, directed by Summer Hill Seven and currently staged by Doni Comas, Platanos Y Collard Greens debuted to sold-out audiences on June 27th, 2003 at a small theater on Manhattan’s west side. That fall Platanos also began its collegiate tour, opening October 8th 2003 to a standing room only crowd at the …
Detail from “And The Earth Did Not Swallow Them,” mural (2015). CUNY Graduate Center: ‘The title is lifted from Tomas Rivera’s book entitled Ey No Se Lo Trago La Tierra”. The book tells the tale of an immigrant farm working family in the 1950’s United States.’ Fred Alvarado, Suaro Cervantes, Marina Perez- Wong, Max Allbee. …
Julio Salgado’s ‘Undocu-Queers’ poster series provides the name, face, and story of a person at the intersection of two much-commoditized demographics, that of queer and undocumented. The series, which has shown at galleries across the country, is a way for disenfranchised people to tell their own stories before someone else, ally or otherwise, co-opts them. …
Inside Witness is a comic drawn and narrated by Stephen and Clio Reese Sady. The setting is a family detention center in Artesia, New Mexico, a place where migrant families are housed while awaiting approval for humanitarian relief claims. The comics combine an eyewitness perspective of a courtroom with the voices of the families. Many families, …
La Santa Cecilia’s Music Video for “El Hielo (ICE)” Produced by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network as part of the #Not1More series at http://notonemoredeportation.com with support of the abc* Foundation You might not suspect from its lovely, breathy lead vocal and deceptively languid, vaguely bossa nova lilt that La Santa Cecilia’s latest single, “El Hielo” …
Advocacy Blogs and National Organizations Americas Mexico Blog — It chronicles and analyzes the developments in the U.S. and the consequences in Mexico of U.S. policies in the war on drugs, immigration and globalization. Chron.com — This a blog of the Houston Chronicle newspaper. One of the blogs is about news on immigration in Mexico and the U.S. Define …
End Detentions and Deportations NOW! (2013) 12-year-old DRUM youth member, Nushin Kashem, is fighting to bring her father home from detention, and for all immigrant families and youth. Join and support DRUM to build the leadership and voices of undocumented immigrants to lead the struggle for immigration reform, workers’ rights, and to roll back enforcement …
Producer/DP: Konrad Aderer; Editor: Helen Yum In this documentary we meet the Alams, a Bangladeshi family living in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Mohammed Alam, father to two young U.S.-born daughters, is one of 13,000 immigrants facing deportation as a consequence of Special Registration, a post-9/11 policy which targeted nationals of Muslim countries. But the Alams are not …
The students of Newcomers High School in Long Island City, which specializes in teaching recent immigrants, and those of St. Luke’s, a private middle school in Manhattan, have come together to dialogue about difference and combat bias. The Building Bridges project was created through a collaboration between Newcomers teacher Julie Mann, and St. Luke’s teacher …
A number of organizations led a march on May 27, 2015 to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Washington D.C. to protest the detainment of LGBTQ undocumented immigrants. The group, “#breakthecage”, said that LGBTQ detainees are subject to a greater degree of sexual and physical assault, solitary confinement, and lack of access to medical care …
On April 4th, 2013, Claudia Munoz, an organizer with The National Immigrant Youth Alliance, allowed for herself to be detained by Michigan immigration in order to get into detention and expose the abuses. In her weeks detained Claudia found numerous instances of ICE officials (J. Jolin) forcing detainees to sign Voluntary Departure. Claudia witnessed CBP …
The 28-year-old artist and video producer was among dozens of undocumented immigrants featured on the 2012 cover of Time magazine who have “outed” themselves, talking publicly about their status. “As a queer individual, I know what it’s like to be in the shadows and have this secret,” Salgado tells Kurt Andersen. “And when I came out, it was …
The Park51 controversy isn’t really about a building. It’s about erasing individuals. Let me begin with a question: Who is a Muslim? Virtually everyone who has commented on the “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy claims to know the answer to the above question. As Leon Wieseltier once put it, “On September 10, 2001, nobody in America …
BEIJING — China is pushing ahead with a sweeping plan to move 250 million rural residents into newly constructed towns and cities over the next dozen years — a transformative event that could set off a new wave of growth or saddle the country with problems for generations to come. The government, often by fiat, …
There has not been “an incident in Byzantine history with which the church of St. Sophia is not associated.”[1] Hagia Sophia represents the very essence of the history of Turkey and the continuous transformation it has undergone throughout the ages and even today.[2] Turkey, and especially Istanbul, the former Constantinople, is a country of great …
In a vote that displayed a widespread anxiety about Islam and undermined the country’s reputation for religious tolerance, the Swiss on Sunday overwhelmingly imposed a national ban on the construction of minarets, the prayer towers of mosques, in a referendum drawn up by the far right and opposed by the government. The referendum, which passed …
The Swiss voted to ban the construction of new minarets — against all expectations and although their government and most political parties had rejected a ban. But this referendum had, in truth, little to do with minarets. The surprising vote reveals rather a growing unease in Switzerland, which traditionally has been one of the most …
“Documented” is the new immigration documentary from Jose Antonio Vargas that is the centerpiece film at this year’s AFI Docs festival in Washington, D.C., and it tracks the one-time Washington Post reporter’s personal story as an undocumented immigrant (he revealed his undocumented status in a New York Times magazine piece in 2011). “To me, immigration …
In July of 2013, 100 asylum seekers burned their shelters down in an Australian refugee processing center on Nauru Island. The incident drew attention to a new law made the same day in Australia banning “boat people” from living in the country. The government started an ad campaign in multiple pan-Asian languages to warn of …
In 2013 an official probe was launched into claims that the Home Office “Go Home or Face Arrest” advertisement campaign targeting illegal immigrants is racist and offensive. There was a formal investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) into the controversial posters, which are being driven around on two vans in six London boroughs. …
Advertising in connection with migration and refugees is not the first thing that comes to mind, but the connection goes back to the beginnings of modern migration in the 18th century. In recent years, unlike the advertising of the past in which trading ships and companies extolled the virtues of “the new world” to would-be …
It reads like the website of a travel agency. “A trip to Italy next week in a big fast tourist yacht,” says the Facebook post beneath a picture of a luxury ocean liner. “Two floors, air-conditioned, prepared for tourists. Recommended for families.” But a package holiday this is not. It is the Facebook page of a …
The global money-transfer industry makes huge profits by charging a fee to transfer money to another country as well as off of exchange rates. For illegal immigrants who don’t have proper identification, it’s almost impossible for wire transfer companies to “know their customers.” Globalisation has created a demand for a cheap and mobile labour force, …
There is a wide-ranging effort by Australia to discourage refugees from going to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. On the shores of Indonesia, billboard messages written in Dari let ‘boat people’ know that all illegal routes to Australia are closed to Afghans. Can these campaigns work on would-be migrants, when the conditions causing them to leave …
The language of advertising to recruit, and more recently, to de-recruit, immigrants provides a mostly unexamined aspect of the rationales provided for why people move. Negative advertising about one’s own country as a means to deter refugees and migrants from seeking asylum there is a new development in the ongoing story of human migration and …
Through powerful footage and intimate access, THE STATE OF ARIZONA focuses on the controversial “papers please” law, SB1070. The feature-length, verité documentary interweaves the volatile themes of immigration and race portrayed through a mosaic of characters and their responses to the law. The film’s three-act structure is built around the turbulent arc of the law, …
Lilja 4-ever (2002)Lilja 4-ever is a 2002 Swedish-Danish drama film directed by Lukas Moodysson. Lilja 4-ever is an unremittingly brutal and realistic story of the downward spiral of Lilja, played by Oksana Akinshina, a girl in the former Soviet Union whose mother abandons her to move to the United States. The story is loosely based …
No Fear, No Die (1990) Working from a script co-authored by Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau, No Fear, No Die directly confronts the personal politics of race, capital, and especially masculinity, as they are marked by colonisation and its pathologies. While plot matters little in the work of Denis, the film follows the tragic consequences of …
Black Girl (1966) “Black Girl is a 1966 film by the Senegalese writer and director Ousmane Sembène, starring Mbissine Thérèse Diop. Its original French title is La Noire de…, which means “The black girl of…”, as in “someone’s black girl”. The film centers on a young Senegalese woman who moves from Senegal to France to …
A clinically presented series of stark white, unembellished placards illustrates the sobering statistical data for the overwhelming public sentiment against the abolition of the death penalty as an off-screen narrator (Nagisa Oshima) provides a snide, but impassioned rebuttal to popular opinion by presenting a objective documentary of the austere and impersonal milieu associated with the …
Reminiscences of a journey to Lithuania (1972) After a twenty-seven year absence, Adolfas and his brother Jonas returned to their birthplace in Lithuania. They had left Lithuania as young men, destined for a German labor camp. Now they came home for a visit, Adolfas with his wife, the singer Pola Chapelle. “The film consists of …
The Silence of Lorna (2008) Sokol and Lorna, two Albanian emigrants in Belgium, dream of leaving their dreary jobs to set up a snack bar. They need money, and a permanent resident status. Claudy is a junkie – he needs money to satisfy his addiction. Andrei, the cigarette smuggler, must hold up for a while …
