The New Americans Part 3 & 4

From 1997, different film crews followed the lives of new, non-European immigrants to the United States over several years. They started filming in the countries of origin – Palestine, the Dominican Republic, India, Mexico and a Nigerian refugee camp in Benin – thus showing the great individual differences between immigrants. A modern Palestinian woman who wants to get ahead, two Dominican baseball talents who have been discovered, a refugee who cannot go back home. But the similarities remain nonetheless: the tears on departure, the oversimplified dreams of freedom, wealth and happiness, the pressure from relatives to send them money and the disappointing reality after arriving. In the second part, the role of tradition, religion and the Palestinian cause puts pressure on Naima’s marriage; Israel hopes his pregnant wife will give him a son; the traditional Nigerian Barine Wiwa-Lawani clashes with her Americanised daughters; the Mexican Pedro Flores wants to legally bring his family to America.