Amreeka is an independent film written and directed by Cherien Dabis. The film documents the lives of a Palestinian American family living in post 9/11 suburban Chicago. The film portrays the life of Muna Farah (Nisreen Faour), a divorced Palestinian Christian mother, raising her teenage son. She works within the West Bank as an accountant. Her life in the West Bank is filled with turmoil. Farah is caught in the middle of sectarian battle in that region until one day, her luck changes once she is awarded an American green card through the lottery. At first, she is hesitant to take the offer, but she reconsiders after discovering her son was harassed by Israeli soldiers. The director’s objective was to show the audience the struggle of migrating …show more content…
to new country, and problems faced by many immigrants who move to the United States, as they try to provide a better future for their kids. Every good film causes it viewers to reflect upon their personal experiences. In this film, we see the changes Muna goes through. The objective of the film was to show the viewers the hardship suffered by millions of immigrants who leave their families when they decide to leave everything behind to have a better future for their kids. There have been plenty of movies based on experiences faced by European immigrants (Angela Ashes), but this film individually touches base with the Middle Eastern Immigrant experience. The director was trying to connect with western audiences and many Middle Eastern immigrants whose family went through similar struggle. The film is set in 2003, at the beginning of the American led invasion of Iraq.
It is based upon the directors own personal experience, as she comes from a Palestinian back ground. Her parents migrated to the United States. During the first Gulf War, she remembers the similar ostracism that is faced by Muna and her sisters family as the war in Iraq continues. Amreeka is a heartwarming film, which will touch the hearts of many audiences. Dabis did a great job informing the viewers on the struggle most immigrants go through and also expresses the misconceptions many Americans have of Arabs. She focuses on all the characters in the film to show the viewers how each individual grew from their experiences. Muna portrays a single mother who leaves everything behind in so she along with her son can have a better future. Munas sister, who left Palestine more than fifteen years ago, still struggles adjusting to an American lifestyle. Along with her husband, who is a successful doctor, reaches a downfall in regards of his patients once 9/11 occurs. And Fadi, who encounters prejudice at school, but finds a friend in Salma his cousin, who always came to his rescue. The film also shows a bond that is shared within different characters in the movie. As we see, the main characters struggle to adjust to the American society, but they are able to find friends who help them throughout the movie. Muna finds a friend in Mr. Novatski, who becomes her ally in rough times and comes to her rescue when she needs
help. Throughout the movie, the viewers get to experience how kind and generous Muna is as an individual. Even though she is confronted by hostility and prejudice, she is able to fight through it and keep a smile on her face. The director shows how strong she is as a Palestinian Arab woman who has left her whole life behind so she can give her son a better life. I would suggest readers to watch this movie because it will touch your heart. It made me think about the struggles and hardships millions of families go through as they decide to move to the United States. Coming from a Middle Eastern family, adjusting in America wasn’t as simple so this movie reminded me of the conflicts I faced growing up.
Mississippi Masala, directed by Mira Nair, is a movie about an Indian woman and an African-American man who fall in love, despite objections from both of their respective families. The couple, Demitrius and Mina, struggle to maintain their relationship despite their families disapproval. The movie utilizes the mise-en-scene element of color to communicate its themes of conflict between cultures.
The movie revolves around Pai who lost her mother and twin brother during birth. We learn that her father is a photographer and migrated to Germany to live his passion, leaving her to be raised by her grandparents. We observe that Pai becomes attached to his grandfather Koro and loves him more than anything in this world and wants to become the next chief of the tribe to make him proud, although Koro loves her, he aggressively opposes this idea. He questions her achievement and doubts her abilities all on the basis that she is only a girl. Pai, like his
Have you ever wondered how living abroad for four years without parents or family would be? The experience may sound pleasant and fabulous for a minute or two, but such life would depend on one factor, independence. A life without ones parents is terrifying, but what would happen if your parents were suffering with an environment of war around them when you are abroad hoping to finish your academics with all the pressure surrounding you. This is the same situation Marjane Satrapi faced in her memoir “Persepolis 2” when she lived abroad.
In 2005, the Palestinian director and writer, Hany Abu-Assad, released his award winning motion picture, “Paradise Now.” The film follows two Palestinian friends, over a period of two days, who are chosen by an extremist terrorist group to carry out a suicide mission in Tel-Aviv during the 2004 Intifada. The mission: to detonate a bomb strapped to their stomachs in the city. Because the film industry seldom portrays terrorists as people capable of having any sort of humanity, you would think the director of “Paradise Now” would also depict the two main characters as heartless fiends. Instead he makes an attempt to humanize the protagonists, Khaled and Said, by providing us with a glimpse into their psyches from the time they discover they’ve been recruited for a suicide bombing operation to the very last moments before Said executes the mission. The film explores how resistance, to the Israeli occupation, has taken on an identity characterized by violence, bloodshed, and revenge in Palestinian territories. Khaled and Said buy into the widely taught belief that acts of brutality against the Israeli people is the only tactic left that Palestinians have to combat the occupation. In an effort to expose the falsity of this belief, Hany Abu-Assad introduces a westernized character named Suha who plays the voice of reason and opposition. As a pacifist, she suggests a more peaceful alternative to using violence as a means to an end. Through the film “Paradise Now,” Abu-Assad not only puts a face on suicide bombers but also shows how the struggle for justice and equality must be nonviolent in order to make any significant headway in ending the cycle of oppression between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The novel shares more than relocation, it also shows devotion and attitude. Kazuko and her family went through a lot within a short amount of time due to the war. The Ioti family tried very hard to assimilate and still faced persecution for something they had nothing they were a part of. Eventually all of this persecution led to a mass relocation and the family still remained loyal to their country they truly desired to remain in. Kazuko shows strong desire for learning whether it is education or another culture but she still perseveres even through the segregation. This perseverance led Kazuko to no longer feel like a person that is divided. Rather at the end of the novel she felt together as one with both of her cultures. In the end, it comes to realization that it takes time to find one’s true self. Through the grief, it gives somebody like Kazuko time to evaluate what their true devotions
This quick assimilation results in the opposition by the both parents with statements such as, “This is what happens to people in America?” The parents, especially of Pranab, don’t approve of his fiancee as she doesn’t “fit in” with their Bengali customs. The older generation is unaccustomed to the a foreign experience to enter their lives, pushing it away and causing disunity. The younger generation struggles with the two cultures. Ursha struggled with living an American childhood by going to school dances due to her mother “flying into a rage” at the mention of such American customs.
Lack of language is a common theme that initially brought the Soviet family and the Nahumovsky couple from Belarus together, this was demonstrated in the story when Mark stated, “Joining us most nights were the Nahumovskys. They attended the same English classes and travelled with my parents on the same bus.” This partaking of the six month English classes was what connected the two stories of immigrants/refugees to collide. Furthermore, we can observe the complexity of how language and emotions are correlated directly in Tapka.
The main character is Mrs. Das whom is flirtatious, careless, and needy. She and her husband take their family to see the country India for the first time. The tour guide Mr.Kapsi whom is curious, understanding, and quite aware. He sees something unusual at the beginning of the trip, but does not say anything. As the children continue their site seeing, the husband takes picture with his camera as if he lost in his own world. Meanwhile the wife gets to know the driver instead of site seeing. Mr.Kapsi is aware that the family is not like most Indians which lead him to be attracted to Mrs.Das. It states, “The family looked Indian but dressed as foreigners did, the children in stiff, brightly colored clothing and caps with translucent visors (29). This quote shows the difference in cultural clash as well the difficulty of communication. Mr.Kapsi tells Mrs. Das that he is an interpreter for a doctor which makes her believe she can discuss her personal business without him telling anyone. It states, “He decided to begin with the most obvious question, to get to the heart of the matter, and so he asked, “Is it really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it guilt?”(39) Made the wife realized what she was truly feeling about her mistakes. After the conversation Mr.Kapsi did not look at the Mrs.Das the same way. The unusual
The sequence opens with various shots of the Red Army pioneers marching along the road. We gradually move to the back of the parade until we see Mitia, in disguise, marching with them. However, the camera only stays with him for a brief instant. It tilts down to reveal a young boy who is probably the same age as Nadia, and right after that we cut to a shot of her, at the gate, saluting the pioneers. That single cut reveals the entire essence of Nadia's character. She has one desire: to be a pioneer. She has been raised in a family that cultivates the memory of an idealistic communist regime, in which unity and devotion prevail. Nadia embodies the memories and desires of her people: memories of a past utopia, and desires to keep that utopia alive.
Also, as immigrant this affects Zainab and Mauna, because it allows them to see the injustice and the oppression in immigration system. The film illustrates how society labels illegal immigrants as outside the norm, marginalized Tarek. Immigrant are being deported and exposed to the injustice system.
There are a lot of ways to present the story which the author wants to share with the audience. It can be a book, a poem, a song, a music item, a film, a play, a dance, anything that the author may imagine. But each form is unique and one and the same story told using different forms will look different. Sometimes a bad story in verses may look perfect in a dance and vice versa. The form in which a story told is important, because it can highlight those important features, which another form may avoid.
Consequently, the families, and the parents especially, feel isolated from society in their new homes. Especially in Ghada’s case, the reader observes how the children, who naturally become more integrated thanks to their education in the school system, begin to feel less close to their parents. Indeed, this characteristic of both Khadra and Ghada’s families demonstrates the unique situation in which many Muslim migrants find themselves. For some, their move is seen as temporary at the beginning, which provides no incentive to integrate. However, this ultimately makes their lives in the new country more difficult and lonely.
Aibileen is the protagonist in the movie; she is the first maid to agree to recount her years of racial mistreatment by privileged white women. The majori...
How would you feel if you came to America for the first time? You would probably be frightened and/or excited, right? That is how the main character of An American Brat, Feroza Ginwalla, felt. Feroza is a sixteen year old Pakistani girl who is sent to America by her parents, hoping that a few months with her uncle, a grad student, will soften Feroza's firm thinking in Pakistan beliefs. They get more than they bargained for. Feroza attends college and learns what independence and freedom feels like. Her cultural and religious beliefs become a conflict between what she feels and what she has been taught. She falls in love with a Jewish American and wants to marry him. Her religious beliefs restrict her from marrying a non-Pakistani which creates the external conflict between her mom and family.