The New Americans

Between 1998 and 2002, different film crews followed the lives of non-European immigrants to the United States. 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 freedom and a career, a computer programmer looking to get ahead, two Dominican baseball talents who have been discovered, a refugee who cannot return home, and a family trying to finally make a life together. But despite all the differences, the similarities abound: the tears shed upon departure, the often naive dreams of freedom, wealth and happiness, the pressure from relatives to send money home, and the disappointing reality post-arrival. Above all, the documentary gives all these aspects of immigration a human face. In interviews, the immigrants talk about their expectations, their relationships, and their families, and the crew does its best to keep a low profile at events both small and large. A birth, a baptism, moving house, looking for a job - but also on Black Monday, when the stock exchange crashes, and during the attacks on the World Trade Center.