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immigration

Minari: Hope in the Dry Heat

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Set in rural Arkansas, Minari tells the story of Jacob (Steven Yeun) and Monica (Yeri Han) Yi, a Korean American couple in search of the American Dream. Travelling with their two young children, Jacob purchases a farm with the intent of growing Korean vegetables and selling them to vendors for profit. However, as the realities of starting a new business begin to surface, the Yi’s struggles to make ends meet and they must make some tough decisions about how they intend to survive as a family.

Written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung (Abigail Harm), Minari is a beautiful, honest and often funny film that sheds much needed light on the immigrant experience and the biases that they face along the way. Though the story is fictional, this is a film that feels real. Told with honesty and love, Chung weaves a narrative that tells the story of one family at a specific place and time but also sheds light on the immigrant experiences of many others. As strangers in a strange land, The Yi family are in desperate need of support but remain unable to find what they need. In an effort to depict this struggle visually, Chung effectively bleaches the film with a dry colour palette, bringing to life the barrenness that the Yi family is experiencing both as farmers and as a family. What’s more, without giving any spoilers, Chung continues to use this dryness and heat thematically throughout the course of the film as tensions mount between the family until they finally erupt.

As frustrated father Jacob, Yeun’s stellar performance drives the narrative with his passion and ambition. To counterbalance her husband’s determination, Yeri Han provides much of the emotional grounding of the film as the loving but exhausted Monica. Whether they’re pulling apart or spending intimate moments together, Yeun and Han have incredible onscreen chemistry together, giving the film a feeling of honesty and authenticity. While their relationship may anchor the film, Minari features solid work from its entire cast, including youngsters Noel Cho and Alan S. Kim who bring an innocence and energy that light up the screen.)

In many ways, Minari exposes the fragility of the so-called American Dream. Having moved to Arkansas to build their farm, the Yi family believes that it’s only a matter of time before they find success in this ‘land of opportunity’. However, it soon becomes clear that Jacob’s dreams for his family seem naïve held up against the realities that they face. From unexpected delays in their shipments to blatant racial inequality, Jacob and Monica begin to crumble under the pressures of achieving their goals. For Jacob, his dreams of becoming successful become all consuming. For Monica, they seem a distant pipe dream. Although they have been led to believe that the world would fall at their feet with hard work and determination, they soon come face to face with the toxic realities of poverty and racism that prevent them from realizing their ambitions. 

As an honest depiction of the immigrant experience, Minari is a film about what it takes to [literally] plant roots for the future, even when the soil is hard to manage. Taking its title from the resiliency of minari seeds, the film explores what it truly means to find success when financial windfall seems impossible. For the Yi family, hard work and sacrifice may be embedded in who they are yet to what end? Faced with circumstances stacked against them, Jacob and Monica’s struggle forces them to re-examine their priorities. In doing so, the couple has the opportunity to discover what it means to experience hope in a dry season of life.

However, even though the film focuses on the struggles they face, there’s a sense of joy embedded within the film, even in the darkest of moments. Moving and heartwarming, Minari recognizes that true success lies not what we value but in who we value (and who values us). Just as families can fight to survive, they too also experience moments of levity in the midst of their struggle. What’s more, these brief glimpses of joy can often reignite the sparks that seem to have been extinguished by life’s burdens so long ago. As a result, while the Yi family may have moved away from the place where they once lived, moments like these become the foundation for their true home wherever they may be. 

Though the story of the Yi family may be fictional, Minari serves as a reminder that the struggles inherent to the immigrant experience are real. Set in the scorching Arkansas heat, Chung’s story speaks to immense challenges faced by those who wish to begin a new chapter of their lives, especially when they cling to a Dream that never really existed. Even so, despite the tensions that may erupt, Chung imbues his film with an endearing sense of hope. Sparked by joy in one another, Minari never forgets that home begins and ends with those we love.

Minari is available in theatres and on PVOD in the US on Friday, February 12th, 2021

No Man’s Land: Welcome

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“Sometimes you need to close your eyes and start over to see clearly.”

No Man’s Land, from director Conor Allyn, is at one level a story about borders, but at a deeper level it is about the importance of welcoming the stranger in our midst.

Jake Allyn as “Jackson Greer” in Conor Allyn’s NO MAN’S LAND. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

The Greer family has a small cattle ranch along the Rio Grande, but south of the border wall. They have narcos, rustlers, and immigrants who come across their land. The father Bill (Frank Grillo) has to take his passport just to go to the hardware store. Son Jackson (Jake Allyn, who also wrote the script) is a promising pitcher preparing for a tryout with the Yankees.

One night, hearing activity outside, Bill and his two sons go out with weapons, worried about losing cattle. Instead it is a small group of people looking to enter the US illegally, led by Gustavo (Jorge A. Jimenez) who is bringing his son to live with him in the US. In the chaos of the confrontation, Jackson’s brother is stabbed and Jackson shoots and kills Gustavo’s son. Bill seeks to take the blame, claiming self-defense, but the Texas Ranger (George Lopez) investigating sees through it. When he goes to talk with Jackson, Jackson crosses the river into Mexico.

Jorge A. Jiménez as “Gustavo” in Conor Allyn’s NO MAN’S LAND. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

Jackson is dealing with the guilt of taking the boy’s life. When Jackson found the boy’s wallet, it had a picture of the boy in his baseball uniform. Clearly, Jackson understands that they held things in common. But Gustavo is dealing with anger and seeks revenge. Jackson finds himself trying to avoid both the law and Gustavo. But he also wants to go to the boy’s hometown to seek forgiveness and redemption. Along the way he encounters those who would take advantage of him, as well as those who will take him in.

Jackson learns that there is much more to Mexico than he has known. Most importantly he discovers that there are people who welcome him, even though they don’t know him and he cannot speak their language. As a stranger he is often totally at the mercy of the people he meets. And he meets some very welcoming people.

Meanwhile back in Texas, his mother (Andie MacDowell) reminds Bill of the times they would take food and water to the river for those coming across. He responds, “It’s different now”, to which she responds, “but we’re different.” The contrast of the welcome Jackson finds and his parents’ choice to no longer be welcoming serves to underscore the divide we may have within us about welcoming strangers or turning away.

That same spirit plays out in the storyline between Jackson’s desire for redemption and Gustavo’s seeking revenge. When the face off arrives, Gustavo remembers a lesson he gave his son as they were walking that deadly night. He had his son close his eyes and count to ten. When he opened them, he could see better. For Gustavo, for the Greer family, for the viewers, a pause may give all of us a chance to see more clearly when we think of issues around welcoming the stranger.

George Lopez as “Ramírez”, Frank Grillo as “Bill Greer”, Andie McDowell as “Monica” and Jake Allyn as “Jackson Greer” in Conor Allyn’s NO MAN’S LAND. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

Jesus says in Matthew 25: “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’” No Man’s Land lives out that teaching.

No Man’s Land is available at select theaters where open and on VOD.

Wednesday at AFIFest 2020

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My cat has enjoyed AFIFest 2020 Presented by Audi a great deal this year. She rarely has a chance to spend a whole afternoon on my lap when I actually have to go to movies. I doubt she realizes the qualities of movies she’s sleeping through. She’s missing out on some very good stuff.

The documentary Collective, by German-Romanian filmmaker Alexander Nanau, arrived at AFIFest with a load of festival awards. It takes place in the aftermath of a tragic 2015 nightclub fire that claimed 27 lives. The corruption that that fire exposed led to the fall of the government, and a new temporary government of technocrats. Yet, another 37 victims of the fire died over the next four months, mostly from infections. All the while the Minister of Health claimed the hospitals were among the best in Europe. When journalists discovered that the disinfectants being sold to hospitals were blatantly diluted, a new scandal erupted. This film takes us inside the controversy, the investigation, and the attempts at the new Minister of Health to create a better medical system.

The key quote I found in the film: “The way a state functions can crush people some of the time.” This is one of many films I’ve seen this year that portray the need of an independent and trustworthy press for democracy to function. Collective not only speaks to that need, but is clear that the power of government can be overwhelming. This film is Romania official submission for Best International Feature Film Oscar consideration.

In Ekwa Msangi’s Farewell Amor, an Angolan immigrant in New York is reunited with his family after seventeen years apart. Walter came to America following the Angolan Civil War, his wife Esther and daughter Sylvia went to Tanzania. It has taken all this time for Walter to get permission for them to join him. Meanwhile, their lives have gone in different directions. Esther has become quite religious. Walter has made a life for himself—with another woman. Sylvia, in high school, has her own dreams. There are chapters in the film that give us the perspective of each of these characters. It is interesting how dancing keeps coming into play within the film. The characters find identity, both separately and as family, in dancing. At times that dancing may be a source of conflict, but it can also be the beginning of healing.

You may wonder if there are ever any comedies at festivals. Yes, in fact I took one in yesterday with My Donkey, My Lover & I by Caroline Vignal. Antoinette, French fifth grade teacher, is having an affair with Vladimir, the father of one of her students. When he cancels a romantic getaway to take a hiking trip with his wife and daughter, Antoinette decides she will do the same hiking adventure and surprise him. Totally unfamiliar with hiking, she hires a donkey for the journey. Naturally, it becomes a comedy of errors as Antoinette must deal not only with Patrick the donkey, but with her total lack of hiking ability. When she does manage to run into Vladimir and his family, the awkwardness and revelations become a bit more than she expected. The trip turns out to be a way for Antoinette to come to better understand herself and opens up new possibilities for her.

Tuesday at AFIFest 2020

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AFIFest 2020 Presented by Audi has teamed up with NBC News to present the Meet the Press Film Festival, programs of short documentaries about issues facing the world. Today I took in the program entitled “Justice for All” which included three shorts.

My Brother’s Keeper (22 minutes), directed by Laurence Topham, is the story of Mohamedou Slahi, a Guantanamo detainee for 14 years, and Steve Wood, who as a Marine was assigned to guard him. In their time together, they developed a friendship. After Slahi was released (he was never charged with a crime), he went home to Mauritania. In this film Wood makes the trip to visit his friend.

Laurence Ralph uses animation in The Torture Letters (13 minutes). The film is a series of open letters to various victims of police violence in Chicago. That violence ranges from intimidation and harassment to violence that can lead to death. The use of animation makes it possible for us to better understand that such abusive behaviors by police are indeed torture. An interesting connection to My Brother’s Keeper: In the Q&A after the films, Ralph noted that one of the people who tortured Slahi was a Chicago police officer.

Can fight solve problems? In Lions in the Corner (9 minutes) Paul Hairston introduces us to Chris Wilmore (known to most as Scarface), a past felon with a very difficult childhood who runs Street Beefs, a backyard fight club in which people with issues come and fight it out rather than solving problems with guns of knives. In the process he has created a community of people who have found a place where they can find respect. Often the battles in the ring serve to vent the anger, but also create a bond between former enemies.

Twin brothers Arie and Chuko Esiri bring us Eyimofe (English title: This is My Desire), the stories of two people seeking a better life away from Nigeria. Set in a Lagos slum, the stories of Mofe and Rosa are told sequentially (although their paths cross at a few points). Both are trying to gather the necessary paperwork (all of which requires money) to emigrate to Europe. But events do not work well for them. Mofe loses his family and then his job. Rosa, who is seeking to take her younger sister Grace with her, struggles to fend off the advances of her landlord, while navigating an unscrupulous woman who will pay for their trip (but at a great price). The film shows us the struggle, the hope, and the desperation of those in or near poverty. The colors and customs we observe provide a sense of ethnography set within the narrative.

Jacinta and Rosemary at Maine Correctional Center, 2016. Photo © Jessica Earnshaw.

Jacinta is a heartbreaking documentary from Jessica Earnshaw. We first meet the young woman named Jacinta as she has a month left on a nine month sentence in the Maine Correctional Center, where her mother Rosemary is also incarcerated. It follows her after he release through times of hopefulness and despair. Jacinta is an addict who isn’t able to fight her addiction very long. The first trigger is when she reconnects with her daughter Caylynne. The emotions are too much for her so she retreats into getting high. The spiral continues. But all this is tied together by mother/daughter relationships—Rosemary and Jacinta, and Jacinta and Caylynne.

Earnshaw has incredible access both inside the prison and in the personal lives of Jacinta and her family. It creates a very honest film about addiction and its consequences. That can be heartbreaking in itself, but it is even more so as we learn about Jacinta’s youth and her relationship with her mother (whom she still loves and idolizes) and also see the bond that Jacinta has with Caylynne and how Caylynne deals with all the things in her mother’s life. A very moving and powerful film.

Heidi Ewing is better known for documentary filmmaking (Jesus Camp, The Boys of Baraka, and Detropia), but brings her first narrative feature, I Carry You with Me, to the festival. It is based on the story of Iván and Gerardo, to young men who fall in love in Mexico. Iván has a son, but when it is discovered that he is with another man, he is forbidden to see his son. Iván works in a restaurant and is trained as a chef, but cannot get past dishwashing. He decides to “cross over” to the US. He expects to find good work, but only can get the most menial of jobs.

Eventually Gerardo joins him and they struggle together until luck gives Iván a shot at his dream. Through the years Iván and Gerardo eventually find a good life in New York City. They are even able to be openly gay and share in Gay Pride events. But they are cut off from their families. They can never go back, or they may not be able to return. This is at once a decades-long love story and a commentary on the lives that many people are living in our midst.

Unsettled – Looking for New Lives

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The life of a refugee is hard. It is even harder when the refugees are LGBTQ persons. In Tom Shepard’s documentary Unsettled, we meet four of these asylum seekers as the begin their time in the US.

Subhi is a gay man from Syria, whose life has been threated many times by Islamic extremists and has been beaten by his father. Mari and Cheyenne are a lesbian couple from Angola who faced harassment from family and neighbors. Junior is an HIV-positive gender-fluid man from the Congo. His mother is a pastor who believes that gays should be killed. They are all resettled in the San Francisco area. That may be a haven from LGBTQ people, but it is also a very expensive place to try to restart one’s life.

From left: Junior, Mari, Cheyenne, and Subhi

As the film progresses we see Subhi grow into a role of spokesperson for LGBTQ immigrants’ rights. He speaks to the UN Security Council and testifies before the US Congress. We follow Mari and Cheyenne as they try to deal with the process of seeking asylum—finding a lawyer who will handle their case pro bono, and dealing with the forms and hearings to be accepted for asylum in this country. We also see the trials that Junior faces issues with housing and substance abuse.

The film doesn’t just show us the good side of their progress. Certainly, Subhi’s story seems fairly inspiring as he becomes something of a political poster child for the issue. But as we watch Junior move from house to house to street to shelter, seemingly without support or friends, and know that much of his problems have been brought on by himself, we know that just getting to the US is not a panacea.

Of course, the stories all become more complicated when Donald Trump is elected president, having declared about refugees, “They’re going back.” The film reminds us that since the Second World War, America has been a leader in accepting refugees. It also tells us that under the current administration, the number of refugees allowed to enter the US has dropped by 70% to the lowest level in history.

But those political considerations become the background as we are given the personal stories of these four people as they face the trials of trying to establish themselves in a new land. It is important to note that these are personal stories. These are not abstractions of immigrants and refugees. These are people who have suffered and are looking for a chance to live their lives in security and happiness. Political considerations are almost always in the realm of the abstract. Unsettled gives us real people and asks us to care for them.

Unsettled is available on World Channel via local PBS stations and WorldChannel.org

Blinded By the Light – Words Matter

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“Mister, I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man, and I believe in the promised land” (Bruce Springsteen, “The Promised Land”)

In Blinded by the Light, Javed (Viveik Kaira), a Pakistani young man growing up in a town outside of London, struggles to find his place in the world. He wants to be a writer, but his strict, traditional father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir) doesn’t see that as a proper job for a Pakistani. Javed feels much more English, but that is not acceptable. He feels trapped in a family that doesn’t understand him. His troubles are amplified by the presence of anti-immigrant thugs. But when a friend (Aaron Phagura) introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, he feels he’s found someone who speaks to his problems. Toss in a budding romance with a classmate (Nell Williams), a growing distance from a childhood friend (Dean-Charles Chapman), and an encouraging teacher, and Javed begins to find his own voice. But will it be at the price of losing his family and traditions?

(L-R) NELL WILLIAMS as Eliza, VIVEIK KALRA as Javed and AARON PHAGURA as Roops in New Line Cinema’s inspirational drama, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT, a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

The film is inspired by a true story and based on Sarfraz Mansour’s memoir, Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll. The film only touches in the briefest way on the religious aspect of the story, but it still manages to show us how the conflicts Javed faces between family, society, and self-fulfillment are compounded.

Obviously, music plays a key roll in the film. We often hear bits of Springsteen’s music. From time to time a Bollywood vibe comes in, with the lyrics coming on screen in various ways, and one or two minor production numbers that go along with the Boss’s songs.

The adolescent struggle for an independent identity has always been fertile ground for stories and films. (The best example is Rebel Without a Cause.) The expectations of society and parents often feel stifling. The relationship between Javed and his father is highlighted by conflict. As Javed notes early on, “In my house no one’s allowed opinions except my father.”  Malik feels that he is responsible for all his family maintaining the values he brought with him from Pakistan. He is stern and demanding. He expects his son to grow up to be Pakistani, not English. But Javed has a different view of where he wants his life to go. Director Gurinder Chadha looked at the generational issues of South Asians growing up in the UK in her earlier film, Bend It Like Beckham. Although the immigrant family issues play roles in both Blinded and Bend It, it is really a universal story of generational conflict.

Although set in 1987, this film seems to be very current in terms of race and nationalism issues. Javed is regularly cowed by National Front thugs and their nationalist and white-supremist actions. Thirty years later, those issues have not only not gone away, they seem to have reemerged in recent years on both sides of the Atlantic. We see the threat of anti-immigrant violence through Javed’s eyes. It is another obstacle he must deal with to find his place in the world—a world where some are very vocal about thinking he doesn’t belong.

One of Springsteen’s lines that comes up at varying points is the one that opens this piece. The push to be seen not as boy but as a man is the essence of the adolescent struggle he is going through. For Javed, the music of Bruce Springsteen not only gives him something to identify with, but it pushes him to express himself through his writing. It is his words that will finally show his family and the world who he can become.

Special features include a “Behind the Scenes” look at the true story behind the film and the making of featurette, as well as deleted scenes.

Collisions – ICE-y Road Trip

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“Some are born under a lucky star, some are born into collisions” (Mexican proverb)

A title card at the beginning of Collisions tells us “Every four minutes a US citizen child is separated from a parent by deportation.” The film is told from the perspective of two such children.

When twelve year old Itan (Izabella Alvarez) comes home from school one day with her little brother Neto (Jason Garcia), they find the home has been ransacked and their mother is missing. She has been arrested by ICE. Itan is smart and capable, but soon they must rely on Child Protective Services, who takes them to their estranged uncle Evencio (Jesse Garcia), a crude truck driver who has no interest in the family.

Itan has little patience with Evencio’s behavior, but she and Neto have no real choice. Itan manages to use the internet to locate which facility her mother has been taken to and demands that the uncle take them there to stop her mother’s deportation. A road trip in his tractor/trailer puts them on the road to Phoenix, but after a difficult night, Evencio abandons the children in a motel. By then Itan discovers her mother has been transferred again. Evencio and Itan both grow to understand each other a bit as the search goes on. Even when the journey comes to an end, there are problems facing the family.

Filmmaker Richard Levien is himself an immigrant (from New Zealand), but is now a US citizen. He understands that the immigration process can be labyrinthine. As the children search for their mother, she is also trying to contact them. However, the procedures in place make this very difficult. He wants us to understand that for those involved—especially children—it can be hopeless to understand the system.

The experience shown in the film is not a new situation, but it has been exacerbated by current government policies, such as the ending of DACA (Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Delayed Action for Parents of Americans). The film doesn’t place a political blame for the situation. It sees it as an ongoing way of life for many in this country.

It also shows that this is not only a political issue, but for many a very personal one. Itan has lived her whole life in the U.S. Her life is here. Her hopes for education are here. How can a twelve year old continue towards her goals without a family that will support her and care for her If she goes to live with her mother in Mexico, she will be an outsider. It is not her culture. It would not offer the opportunities she has at home. How can a just solution be found?

The personal side of the story is where Levien draws us in so that we can see the importance of finding the political will to address the issue.

All stills are photographed by Frazer Bradshaw

The Immigration Debate; Stranger Things 3

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How should Christians respond to the current debate and controversy surrounding immigration? Are there deeper spiritual meanings to be found in Stranger Things 3?

In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we go deep on these issues, touching on topics such as: the early history of conflict for Christians between loyalty to God’s kingdom and loyalty to governments; how immigration became a moral/political issue for Christians in the U.S.; questions such as “do the ends justify the means?” and “what would Jesus do?”; nostalgia and loss of innocence in Stranger Things; Stranger Things as a portal story and call to adventure.

Take a listen and let us know what you think! Want to interact with us? Comment here, or on Spreaker or Facebook!

Tuesday at AFIFest 2018

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AFIFest 2018 Presented by Audi continues to remind me of why I like to go to festivals. It’s not just seeing lots of movies, but it is about how movies can truly push us to consider what happens in the world from various perspectives.

Vox Lux, from director Brady Corbet, is a look at celebrity. In the first half of the movie, we see Cassidy (Raffey Cassidy), a fourteen year-old survivor of a school shooting who rockets to fame after she writes a song that becomes a cultural touchstone for grief. Soon, she is making records and globetrotting in the care of her manager (Jude Law) and older sister (Stacy Martin). During that time, her Christian roots slowly erode. In the second half, Celeste (now grown and portrayed by Natalie Portman) is about to start a comeback tour. She exhibits every bad stereotype of a self-obsessed celebrity. Her life becomes even more complicated when a group of terrorists use masks from one of her music videos in a mass-shooting in Europe. We see a day of spiraling out of control. The first half is more interesting part. The film is set to open in December.

The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes was Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda. This is the story of a group of a family of grifters. When they come upon a neglected and possibly abused little girl, they take her in, but in time their secrets all come out. Kore-eda has made a number of films that explore family life and trying to understand the nature of family (cf., Our Little Sister; Like Father, Like Son, Nobody Knows, I Wish). The concept here is if it might not be a good thing to be able to choose our families. Kore-eda is one of my favorite filmmakers. This film is set to open later this month.

Is it imperative to save life? Styx, directed by Wolfgang Fischer, asks us about our moral responsibility. When Rika (Susanne Wolff), an emergency doctor, sets off on a solo sailing vacation, she runs into a storm. The next morning, she sees not far off a derelict trawler loaded with people being smuggled from Africa. The boat is floundering and the people need help, but her 20’ boat won’t handle them. She calls for help. There are promises made of rescue, but nothing happens. She is warned to stay away. One boy manages to swim to her boat, but the effort nearly kills him. What is her responsibility? Why will no one else be responsible? The film is a metaphor for the refugee crisis in many places around the world. Who can take them in? Why won’t some countries? How does this relate to the “immigrant caravan” moving through Mexico? This was a powerful film—perhaps the most powerful I’ve seen at the festival so far.