Premiere Date: July 3, 2001
Synopsis
In vivid vérité detail, My American Girls: A Dominican Love Story captures the joys and struggles over a year in the lives of the Ortiz family, first generation immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Matthews' film captures the rewards — and costs — of pursuing the American dream. From hard-working parents, who imagine retiring to their rural homeland, to fast-tracking American-born daughters, caught between their parent's values and their own, the film encompasses the contradictions of contemporary immigrant life. A Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) Co-presentation.
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Reviews & Reactions
Average Review
| based on 2 reviews
Wonderful film; My congratulations to the filmmaker for making such a unbiased documentary on a infant community that if often portrayed as violent and non progressive. This film proves otherwise!
by Carlos Franco
June 16, 2009, 10:44 PM
I LOVE this film! Although, viewing it brings both joy and pain...
This film explores the contemporary immigrant experience with great depth and richness. It's thoughful and penetrating, yet it doesn't appear intrusive. That's a very fine balance to reach, between being penetrating but not being intrusive.
It's also very interesting in that it explores an immigrant experience that's not generally explored, the Caribbean immigrant experience. The lives of the peoples of the Caribbean from the Bahamas to Trinidad,or Guyana are generally not explored in such depth. The sweep of languages from English, to Dutch, to French and to Spainish. The sweep of cultures from African, to Asian, to East Indian, to European, to First Nations to Middle Eastern. The sweep of religions from Christianity, to Islam, to Sephardic Judism and a host of others. And the impact of this wonderful yet at times difficult melange on North American culture, society and history both past and present.
Yes, it's a Callaloo with pepper sauce!
At times it's spiceyness brings tears to the eyes and pain to the heart. Existence between the margins, not this nor that.... It was interesting when Melinda, "the American Girl" was asked, "What are you?" "Oh, African American..." Where are you from? "Dominica" Life between the margins of cultural, economic, ethnic, linguistic, racial and social identity.
I know this life... I breath this life... I sitting with my sister, in my father's house, in Barataria, Trinidad, at 5:00 A.M. before returning to "the States." She said to me, "You feel like the mulatto, neither this nor that, perhaps you can have the best of both..." Or my father's words to me, "You must remember that your mother left here with you..."
Perhaps I can sum up my reaction to this wonderful, yet painful documentary film by twisting the words of my maternal uncle, as we stood "liming" near the Main Road in Arima. He said,"You be eatin' de meat and de meat it be eatin' good!
I'll twist his words this way, "YOU BE WATCHIN' DE FILM AND DE FILM IT BE WATCHIN' GOOD!!!"
TANKS' TRUE LIVES!!!
by Norris Lewis
August 26, 2009, 3:06 PM