The Library of Congress

Immigration/Migration: Today and During the Great Depression Resources: Online | Print | Film

Immigration

Bing-Canar, Jennifer and Marcy Zerkel. Benaat Chicago. (Daughters of Chicago: Growing up Arab and Female in Chicago.) Chicago, IL: Chicago Center of the American Friends Service Committee, 1996.

Documentary addresses stereotypes and racism toward Arabs and Arab women, while showing what makes many Arab-Americans proud of their cultural heritage. English. 30 minutes.

Morrison, Jane, José Manuel Torres, and Rose Rosenblatt. Los Dos Mundos de Angelita.. (The Two Worlds of Angelita.) New York, NY: First-Run Features, 1983.

The film follows a Puerto Rican family from the island to New York, and shows the difficulties they face. Told from the point of view of Angelita, an observant 9-year-old girl. In Spanish, with English subtitles. 73 minutes.

Muñiz, Angel. Nueba Yol. (A Funny Way to Say New York).

Follows the adventures of a good natured man Balbueña, played by one of the most popular actors on Dominican television) who gives Nueba Yol (New York) a try, but goes back to the island in the end. Many real issues facing immigrants are part of the film, which was a hit in the Dominican Republic. In Spanish, with English subtitles. 102 minutes.

Muñiz, Angel. Nueba Yol, Part Three: Bajo la Nueva Ley. (Under the New Law.) Monteray, CA: Latin Pictures/Kit Parker Films, 1997.

Balbueña, an illegal immigrant living in New York City faces deportation and resorts to a green-card wedding in order to become legal, then faces the challenge of proving the authenticity of his marriage to an immigration official. In Spanish, with English subtitles. 103 minutes.

Nava, Gregory and Anna Thomas. El Norte. (The North.) United States: Cinecom International Films: Island Alive, 1983.

A teenage brother and sister flee their village in Guatemala after it is destroyed by the army. They make their way to El Norte (the United States) where, with difficulty, they find work and try to create new lives for themselves. In Spanish, with English subtitles. 139 minutes.

Salih, Tawfiq. Al-Makhdu'un. (The Dupes.) Seattle, WA: Arab Film Distribution, 1972.

Three Palestinian refugees hidden in a tank truck try to cross the Kuwaiti border. Adapted from the novella, Men in the Sun, by Ghassan Kanafani. In Arabic, with English subtitles. 107 minutes.

The Great Depression

Ford, John. Grapes of Wrath. Los Angeles, California: Twentieth Century-Fox Films, Inc., 1940.

Based on the novel of the same name by John Steinbeck, the film tells the story of the Joad family, who move from the dust bowl to California during the Great Depression. 128 minutes.

Uys, Michael and Lexy Lovell. Riding the Rails. Brooklyn, NY: The American History Project, Out of the Blue Productions, Inc., 1997.

A documentary using archival footage and interviews with surviving "road kids," about some of the four million Americans who traveled around the country in boxcars during the Great Depression. 72 minutes.