Filmy o imigrantech bez dokladů
Immigration is an undeniably important part of the American experience. Therefore, it is no surprise that the immigrant experience has also played a major role on the big screen. While there are far too many excellent movies about immigration to include them all, the following is a list of ten must see movies about immigrants and immigration. These movies are as varied as the immigrant experience itself.
- The Immigrant (1917): Stories of immigration on the big screen start from the earliest days of Hollywood. The Immigrant is a silent romantic comedy that stars a penniless Charlie Chaplin. He sneaks aboard a ship that is crossing the Atlantic for America and falls in love along the way. In 1998, this movie was selected for the National Film Registry.
- America America (1963): Adapted from a novel, America America tells the tale of a young Greek boy dreaming of a better future in the United States.
- Coming to America (1988): Starring Eddie Murphy as the wealthy king of a fictitious African country, this comedy highlights some of the more lighthearted sides of the immigrant experience.
- Gangs of New York (2002): Martin Scorsese was responsible for directing the Oscar nominated Gangs of New York. Led by Leonardo Dicaprio, this film tells the story of a young Irish immigrant who, after being released from prison, seeks to avenge the murder of his father, a murder that came at the hands of a vicious anti-immigrant gang leader.
- The Lost Boys of Sudan (2003): A documentary, the Lost Boys of Sudan follows the heartbreaking and inspirational story of young boys who suffered greatly due war in the African country. The boys begin their journey at a refugee camp in Kenya and make their way to the United States.
- The Kite Runner (2007): The Kite Runner, adopted from a novel, is another movie that deals with the refugee experience, this time using the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a backdrop.
- Sin Nombre (2009): A Spanish language film, Sin Nombre, follows a Honduran teenager on her quest through Mexico to safety in the United States.
- Entre Nos (2009): This film, based in part on a true story, is about a Colombian immigrant and her tribulations surviving with two young children on the streets of New York City.
- A Better Life (2011): An American drama, A Better Life is about a Mexican-born undocumented laborer, and his day to day struggles living in Los Angeles.
- The Immigrant (2013): The 2013 version of ‘The Immigrant’ is no remake; it stars a downtrodden Polish nurse forced into a life of prostitution. It is fitting that this list ends with same title that it starts with, as the immigrant experience is both timeless and yet completely unique.
Are You an Immigrant in L.A.?
The compassionate immigration attorneys at the Goldstein Immigration Lawyers can help. Our team is dedicated to assisting immigrants throughout the country, including those in the entertainment industry. We have offices in Boston and Los Angeles and have extensive experience handling a wide array of immigration issues. If you or a family member needs legal assistance, please contact our immigration lawyer in Los Angeles today to discuss your legal options.
Migranti bez dokumentů
This selection of films explore the challenges faced by undocumented migrants. ‘Undocumented’ is a term used to describe migrants who have moved from their country of birth without the documents and permits requested by immigrations laws for them to ‘legally’ live in another country. The term is also used to describe those who have their permits rejected or expired.
Hostile attitudes towards migrants, combined with border control laws, makes the lives of undocumented people very difficult all over the world. Many face deportation, separation from their families and a lack of access to necessities such as employment, education and social security depending on the law of the country they find themselves in.
This selection of feature films and documentaries reflect how being undocumented is not a singular experience, with stories that range from young people going on long journeys across borders, individuals undergoing right-to-remain application processes, to films about friendship, family and resistance. These films can be used to spark discussion amongst young people about how these realities are experienced by individuals internationally as well as closer to home.
Home (2014)
Colourful comedy adventure about a tribe of aliens in search of a new place to live.
This light-hearted animation about an alien called Oh, who embarks on a journey with a teenage girl called Tip to find her mother, touches on themes of forced displacement and the struggle of belonging.
Paddington (2014)
Charming family film about an accident prone young bear from Peru arriving in London and searching for a new home.
Although not explicitly about undocumented people, the film explores themes of exclusion, as well as belonging, and the role communities play in welcoming others.
Americký ocas (1986)
Hřejivé animované rodinné dobrodružství, ve kterém ruská myš prchá ze své vlasti a pronásledování kočkami za novým životem v Americe.
This classic animation is an accessible place to start discussions on discrimination with a story of mice leaving their homes to escape persecutions from cats. The film is an allegory to the migration of Jewish people to America as well as the urgency in which some people migrate.
Lepší život (2011)
Carlos, a Mexican gardener, is struggling to raise his 14 year-old son in a tough Los Angeles neighbourhood, whilst living in fear of deportation.
A Los Angeles rarely depicted on screen, that of marginal and precarious workers, is centred in this film about a father struggling to make ends meet while simultaneously trying to support his teenage son who is coming closer to crime due to their living conditions.
Sin Nombre (2009)
Powerful drama about a young man and woman from Honduras making the dangerous journey north to try to cross from the Mexican border to the US.
This narrative explores the violence created by borders and the long distances people travel for a better life from the perspective of young people. It interconnects two stories: one about a young girl on a journey through Guatemala and Mexico and the other a young gang member who robs those on trains travelling to the US border.
Zlatý sen (2013)
Unconventional road movie about a group of undocumented teen Guatemalan migrants and their perilous journey to a new life in the US.
This beautiful road movie explores friendship between three Guatemalan teenagers and an indigenous Tzotzil boy who doesn’t speak Spanish and who they befriend on the way to the United States.
Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
Two undocumented migrants form a close bond as they help each other navigate the hostile and dangerous underbelly of a London most of us never see.
Set closer to home, this harrowing film depicts exploitation of migrant workers in London and the dangers experienced by those without social security, who cannot report crimes due to their vulnerable status.
Leave To Remain (2013)
A unique drama based on the true stories of a group of teenagers seeking asylum in the UK.
Also set in the UK, this uplifting drama follows the process of seeking asylum through the character of Omar, a teenage boy from Afghan in a Barking detention centre waiting for the result of his refugee application.
Human Flow (2017)
Documentary by artist Ai Weiwei about the global refugee crisis of the 21st century.
This powerful and visually striking documentary depicts the scale of migration and the great lengths people are forced to take for survival. The film depicts tough realities while also portraying personal stories of resistance.
Zobrazení 0 z 0 filmů v seznamu
Here are 11 movies about the immigrant experience
On May 1, the Day Without Immigrants boycott will demonstrate the impact immigrants have on life in the U.S. These 11 great movies show how the immigrant experience has been reflected on the big screen
Gary is a Senior Writer for EW
Publikované dne 1 2006,
Image credit: El Norte: Everett Collection
El Norte
”El Norte” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY This is one of the first films to look at illegal immigration from the immigrants’ point of view. Here they’re Guatemalan peasants who make their way to America, the ”north” of the title.
THE STRUGGLE Siblings Enrique (David Villalpando) and Rosa (Zaide Silvia Gutierrez) escape a brutal military government in Guatemala to find hardship in Mexico (which is just as inhospitable to illegal immigrants as the U.S.) and finally crawl through a rat-infested tunnel to California, where the best they can do is find low-wage, black-market jobs. It seems they have merely traded one country’s economic oppression for another.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT The immigrants experience a haunting Hrozny hněvu-like struggle at every stage of their journey, and Gregory Nava provides lush, epic-on-a-budget direction.
Image credit: Maria Full of Grace: Everett Collection
Maria plná milosti
”Maria Full of Grace” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY This film looks at the plight of drug mules, women from South America who risk their lives to escape poverty by agreeing to smuggle drugs to the U.S. in their stomachs. Pregnant Colombian teen Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is a typical mule, swallowing dozens of large, greased, watertight pellets before boarding a flight to JFK.
THE STRUGGLE The film is unsparing in looking at the gauntlet of risks these women willingly undergo, including the potentially lethal rupture of the pellets, arrest by wary customs officers, and the cruel indifference of their drug contacts in America. In the case of women like Maria, who ultimately chooses to stay illegally, there’s also the difficulty of finding jobs and housing, though she does find a community of fellow Colombian expatriates who are willing to help her assimilate.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT The charismatic, Oscar-nominated Moreno, whose sympathetic portrayal of the resolute Maria is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
Image credit: Spanglish: Everett Collection
Spanglish
”Spanglish” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY In a look at the influx of Mexicans that is a defining element of life in Southern California today, Spanglish tells its story from the perspective of an illegal immigrant and single mom, Flor (Paz Vega), who works as a maid for a well-off Anglo family, the Claskys (led by Adam Sandler and Téa Leoni).
THE STRUGGLE As the title suggests, the issue here is assimilation. Flor and her bright daughter Cristina (Shelbie Bruce) both find it awkward and embarrassing that the girl has to play the adult and serve as her mother’s translator. More important, Flor worries that assimilation means her daughter will become too much like the Claskys: vain, shallow, materialistic, and snobbish.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT There’s the novelty of Sandler, as the most decent of the Clasky clan, playing a mature and responsible adult. And there’s his character’s fumbling but sweet efforts to bridge the chasm between himself and the luminous Flor.
Image credit: The Border: Kobal Collection
Border
”The Border” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY Here’s what the illegal-immigration situation looks like from the point of view of U.S.-Mexican border-patrol agents like Charlie (Jack Nicholson).
THE STRUGGLE Charlie watches as the same hopefuls try again and again to cross the Rio Grande, and as his fellow guards, led by Cat (Harvey Keitel), become embroiled in a black-market smuggling operation that’s a virtual slave trade in illegal workers and babies.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT Nicholson stars in a rare, understated performance that may be his most overlooked, and Englishman Tony Richardson’s taut direction turns this melodrama into an efficient thriller.
Image credit: Mi Familia: Everett Collection
Moje rodina (Mi Familia)
”My Family (Mi Familia)” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY This multigenerational epic spans the Mexican-American experience of the 20th century via the tale of one family, from patriarch José Sanchez’s immigration on foot to Los Angeles in the 1920s to the professional accomplishments of his grandchildren decades later.
THE STRUGGLE In this saga by Gregory Nava (less tragic than his El Norte), the Sanchez family faces the mass deportations of the 1930s (even the American-born Maria, played by Jennifer Lopez, is among those rounded up at gunpoint and sent to Mexico), gang violence in the 1950s, and political oppression in 1980s Latin America (where Toni Sanchez, played by Constance Marie, is a nun and political activist).
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT The star power of the cast, which includes J. Lo, Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales, and Edward James Olmos
Image credit: The Perez Family: Everett Collection
Rodina Perezových
”The Perez Family” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY This dramedy looks at the Cuban immigrant experience in the Castro era. Released after 20 years as a political prisoner, Juan Raul Perez (Alfred Molina) goes to Florida in search of his wife (Anjelica Huston) and now-grown daughter (Trini Alvarado). Joining him in the crossing is prostitute Dottie Perez (Marisa Tomei), who’s unrelated but who poses as his wife to breeze past immigration officials.
THE STRUGGLE Assimilation into the strange ways of America (even in the established Cuban community of Florida) is one issue. Cultural authenticity becomes another insofar as none of the top talents behind the film — Molina, Tomei, Huston, Alvarado, and director Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala) — is of Cuban descent.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT The always stellar Molina (Spider-Man 2) and Huston
Image credit: Moscow on the Hudson: Kobal Collection
Moskva na Hudsonu
”Moscow on the Hudson” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY During an era when defections from the Soviet Union made headlines, this bittersweet 1984 comedy stars Robin Williams as Vladimir, a Russian musician who defects (fittingly, at the temple of capitalism known as Bloomingdale’s), only to find that freedom in America sometimes means the freedom to fall through the cracks.
THE STRUGGLE In the movie’s melting-pot Manhattan, Vladimir falls in with an ethnically diverse group of immigrants, all struggling to sink or swim on their own. Moving from one service-industry job to the next, Vladimir falls for Italian-born sales clerk Lucia (Maria Conchita Alonso), only to learn that she’d rather date someone more upwardly mobile, or as she puts it, more American.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT Williams shines in an atypically muted performance, while Cuban-born, Venezuelan-bred Alonso sparkles in the role that put her on the Hollywood map.
Image credit: In America: Bernard Walsh/Kobal Collection
V Americe
”In America” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY Set during what appears to be the 1980s, the film centers on an Irish family who emigrate illegally to the U.S., as many people did during what was an economically bleak time in Ireland. They settle in New York’s then-gritty Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.
THE STRUGGLE In this semi-autobiographical tale by filmmaker Jim Sheridan and his daughters, the father (Paddy Considine) has trouble finding work, the mother (Oscar-nominated Samantha Morton) has a troubled and catastrophically costly pregnancy, and the threat of dire poverty looms constantly.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT The two little girls (real-life sisters Sarah and Emma Bolger) are enchanting, especially when they form a bond with their AIDS-afflicted neighbor (Oscar-nominated Djimon Hounsou), himself an immigrant from Africa.
Image credit: Green Card: Everett Collection
zelená karta
”Green Card” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY As the title suggests, the movie takes an anecdotal look at green-card marriages. French avant-garde composer Georges (Gérard Depardieu) enters a sham union with New York City botanist Brontë (Andie MacDowell) in order to avoid deportation. Only when they invent a fake romantic history to fool the INS do the two realize they’ve fallen in love for real.
THE STRUGGLE In Australian writer-director Peter Weir’s movie, immigration rules are depicted as arbitrary and burdensome obstacles that keep lovers apart and talented foreigners from becoming assets to America — though after you hear Georges at the piano, you may be rooting for deportation.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT The couple’s enforced courtship is actually rather sweet, and you can read their foibles (she’s a health nut; he likes butter and tobacco) as emblems of their national character.
Image credit: Alamo Bay: Everett Collection
Alamo Bay
”Alamo Bay” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY In the years following the Vietnam War, the immigrants known as the Boat People flee from Vietnam and land on American shores. In the movie, they’re met with less than open arms by the Texas fishing community of the title.
THE STRUGGLE The Vietnamese become scapegoats for the locals’ fears of lost jobs and their lingering resentment over the war. Racism becomes a factor as well when the Ku Klux Klan gets involved in the dispute.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT The always magnetic Ed Harris, as an increasingly desperate and violence-prone fisherman, and the thoughtful direction by Frenchman Louis Malle.
Image credit: Mississippi Masala: Kobal Collection
Mississippi Masala
”Mississippi Masala” documents the immigrant experience
THE HISTORY How color-blind is the contemporary South? Jim Crow is gone, but how do Indian immigrants fare there? Here, a community of Indians (who’ve come to America after being ejected from Idi Amin’s Uganda in the 1970s) tries to remain culturally intact, even as one of their own (Sarita Choudhury) falls for a local African-American man (Denzel Washington).
THE STRUGGLE In Indian-born director Mira Nair’s first American film, the couple’s romance runs into predictably bigoted responses from both communities.
WHY YOU’LL WATCH IT Leading man Denzel is at his most affably low-key and charming, and in a romantic mode that we hardly ever get to see him play anymore.
We collect Movies about Undocumented immigrant rating based on ratings and reviews on popular services. To collect Movies about Undocumented immigrant we analyze rendition, popular services, comments, people reviews, forum comments and make our own rating. If you think there is a movie missing in the selection, you can leave a comment with the name of the movie that should be included in the selection. Let’s make a rating Movies about Undocumented immigrant together!