Assignment task:
1. Select a popular film (i.e. a film for the mass market, not a documentary, even if it is for mass consumption-NO programs found on the A&E Channel or the like) whose base is an event, personage, time period, or issue grounded in Immigration History. There is a wide variety of these--some old but others new releases. SOME SUGGESTIONS BUT NOT NECESSARILY THE ONLY ONES:
POPULAR MOVIES
IRISH
"Brooklyn" 2016 [Irish immigration to 1950s NYC]
"The Brothers McMullen" 1995 [Irish in Long Island, NY]
"Far and Away: 1992 (Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman). [Immigration through NYC and into Western Lands]
"In America" 2002 [Irish in 1950's NYC]
The Molly McGuires" 1970 [Pennsylvania Coal Miners; Secret Society of militant coal miners battle exploitation.
ITALIANS
"The Black Hand" 1973 [1950s Extortion in NYC]
"The Godfather " 1972 [Sicilian with Immigration Backstory]
"Nuovomondo" 2006 [Italian Immigrationto US through Ellis Island]
"Sacco and Vanzetti" 1971 [Two Italian Anarchists in the 1920s]
"Southie" 1999 [Irish in Boston]
"Tarentella" 1995 [Italian-American in NJ]
"The Untouchables" 1987 (Kevin Costner) [Italian Mob in the US]
"Vendetta" 1999 (Christopher Walken) { 19th Century Italian-Americans]
JEWISH
"Avalon" 1990 [Early 20th Century Russian Jewish Immigrants in Baltimore} You Tube
"Brighton Beach" 1986 (Bette Midler) [Jews/Russians]
"My Yiddishe Momme McCoy" 1991 [Jewish marries Irish in the US]
EUROPEAN SINCE 1800s
"America America" 1963 {Greek/Turkish Immigration]
"An American Rhapsody" 2001 (Communist Hungarians to the US)
"Dancer in the Dark" 2000 [Czechoslovakian in the Western US]
"Green Card" 1990 {Marriage for a Green Card to stay in the US from France]
"Heaven's Gate" 1980 [Wyoming in the 1890s where Eastern European Immigrants fight for free land a fictionalized account of the Johnson County Wars]
"The Immigrant" 2013 [Polish Ellis Island 1921]
"Moscow on the Hudson" 1984
"My Big Fat Greek Wedding"2002
"The New Land" 1972 [Swedish in Minnesota in the mid-19th century]
"O Pioneers" 1992 [Swedish in Nebraska in the early 20th Century]
ASIAN/SOUTH ASIAN/SOUTHEAST ASIAN
"Alamo Bay" 1985 [Vietnamese Immigrants move to Alamo Bay, Texas Conflict with Vietnam Veteran]
"Gran Torino: 2008 [Hmong Ethnic group China/Vietnam, Laos, Thailand] You Tube
"The Joy Luck Club" 1993 [Chinese]
"Lingua Franca" 2019 [Undocumented Filipina Trans Woman working for Russians in Brighton Beach in search of a Green Card]
"Minari" 2020 [Koreans in Arkansas]
"A Mother's Story" 2011 [Filipino]
"Namesake" 2006 [East Indian] You Tube
"Pushing Hands" 1991 [Taiwanese Culture in NYC]
"Warrior" Series HBO MAX, 2 Seasons 2019 [Episode Itchy Onion on You Tube)
LATIN AMERICAN (Mexico to Argentina)
"Balseros" 2002 [Cuba] eVideo
"A Better Life" 2011 You Tube [Mexican Illegal in Los Angeles]
"Born in East L.A. 1987 [Cheech Marin)
"A Day Without Mexicans" 2004
"El Norte" 1983 [Mayans from Central America to the US]
"Made in L..A."2015 [Latina Women} FSU Library eVideo through Kanopy
"McFarland, USA" 2015 (Kevin Costner) [Hispanics in New Mexico]
"The Perez Family" 1995 [Cuban Refugees come together to 'create' a family]
" Popi" 1969 [Puerto Rican}
"Sugar" 2008 [Dominican drafted to Play Baseball in the US]
"Wasp Network" 2019 [Cubans in the 1990s US]
"Westside Story" 1961 [Puerto Ricans vs. Whites]
AFRICA
"Anchor Baby" 2010 [Nigerian Illegals]
"The Good Lie" 2003 (Reese Witherspoon) [Relation to the US of the Lost Boys from what will become South Sudan]
MIDDLE EAST/MUSLIM
"Amreeka" 2009 [Palestinians from the West Bank move to Post 9/11 suburbs of Chicago]
"The Big Sick" 2017
"The House of Sand and Fog" 2003 [Iranian; Traditional Bonds in the family; Honor of Successful Immigrants]
"Man Push Cart" 2005 [Pakistani man goes from being a "rock star" to selling coffee from a push cart]
"The Visitor" 2007 [Illegal from Syria with Senegalese girlfriend in Post 9/11 NYC]
2. INTRODUCTION: Why did you choose this film. What is your interest in the Ethnic Group? History, Immigration Experience, Or Culture?
3. Assess the HISTORIC CONTEXT. Gather historical information about the Ethnic Group, History and Culture that it brought to the US . Begin with your textbook by reading only the pages dealing with the topic. Choose books in the library by historians on the topic--may include biographies, autobiographies.
4. Using THREE sources other than your textbook, gather the historical perspective about your topic. TAKE NOTES CREATE A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES THREE HISTORICAL AND ONE FILM REVIEW.
- Bibliography: If you are using INTERNET SOURCES, the CITATION FORM is AUTHOR (if there is one), "Title," (in quotes), the URL, AND the Date you accessed it. LOSE 20 POINTS IF THERE IS NO BIBLIOGRAPHY
- MUST HAVE CITATIONS/FOOT NOTES/END NOTES: Choose your Citation Format that goes with your major.
5. See the film
6. Write your PERSONAL EVALUATION OF THE CONTENT "The Immigrant Experience"
i. A brief summary of the HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THIS ETHNIC GROUP And its arrival to the US that gives you the basis for critical review of the film (PUSH-PULL Factors)
ii. How is this history and culture used as the historical context by the film (not necessarily the plot)?
iii. Pick FIVE ITEMS that are present in both the historical and cultural record and portrayed by the film. Discuss them in COMPARATIVE FORM WITH A CITATION.
iv. Please note any glaring errors in the presentation of the film from period costumes to omissions of vital facts or other historical gaffs.
v. Give YOUR PERSONAL evaluation of the film AS A VEHICLE FOR ACCURATE HISTORICAL PORTRAYAL OR A VEHICLE FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF THE HISTORY OF IMMIGRANTS IN THE US. Does the film portray the events and society so that someone who had not done the research clearly and accurately understand the period
vi. CONCLUSION