Documentary Final

An Immigrant's Story

by Elizabeth Harrison

An Immigrant's Story

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

~ The Statue of Liberty

Before this country embraced the name, The United States of America, it was simply an assortment of immigrants looking for a better home. Many came seeking asylum from political or religious persecution, many sought freedom from oppressive economic limitations. These immigrants created the vibrant cultural background of what eventually became the US. I would even submit that this country was built by immigrants. Today, over 1 million people still immigrate to the country every year. Many still come for the same reasons as those of past centuries. However, perspectives towards immigrants and immigration have begun to shift in the last decades. Immigration and immigration reform have become present hot topics in politics, with politicians employing a wide range of rhetoric on the subject. There are those that feel threatened but the constant influx of people and feel the need to protect the US and its assets. Others cherish the cultural diversity and economic benefits immigrants bring. 

            Beyond the banter and disagreements, however, there are still billions of immigrants living in the country currently, directly affected by the nation’s politics and policies, either to their benefit or limitation. Their reality is something that needs to be considered in the larger debate. In my project, An Immigrant’s Story, I wanted to expose some of the individual experiences an immigrant would have with the US system. Though I am not an immigrant myself, these are experiences I have also engaged with personally: the subject being my fiancée. My documentary is just one individual’s story, but it fairly well represents a broader shared reality. We both have spoken with many others who face similar situations.

In the book, Documentary: History of Non-Fiction Film, Barnouw explains how documentary can be used as an opportunity to help the general public understand and navigate current issues in society and the world. A movement inspired largely by John Grierson; documentary has found an influential place as an advocate for those that may be otherwise found without a voice. With this project I hoped to lend a microphone to a story that all too often isn’t heard; perhaps to garner sympathy or at least create awareness.

I employed elements of the expository, participatory and performative modes to best deliver the project. B. Nichols states, “[The] expository mode emphasizes voice over commentary, a problem/solution structure, an argumentative logic, and evidentiary editing,” (Introduction to Documentary, 22). In my doc, the subjects voice creates the arch of the narrative. He also plainly lays out the problems and suggests his own solutions for them. His experiential evidence creates a logical argument. In the participatory mode, filmmaking often “takes place by means of interviews or other forms of more direct involvement, such as conversations or provocations,” (Nichols, 22). The themes and topics touched on in An Immigrant’s Story came about due to the questions I asked my subject and many conversations we have had previously. This is something we deal with continually in our relationship. Nichols describes the performative mode as placing “a strong emphases on what it feels like to inhabit the world in a specific way or as part of a specific subculture,” (Introduction to Documentary, 22). He also explains that the performative mode does not dramatically call attention to all the problems, but rather gives a slice of one’s experience. Again, though I’m am not the one telling the story, it is one I am personally involved in. I have also grown to learn what it is like to be “alien”; what happens to my fiancée directly affects me and my future as well. In a way, through his dialogue, we are both performing a slice of our own experiences in our specific subculture. 

The film Stranger With a Camera by Elizabeth Barret utilizes a similar tone in its presentation. Elizabeth explores what it is like to come from a poor southern town where the scrutiny of media on their culture at large, is heavy. Despite media having caused problems for her city in the past, she turns to it as a tool for expressing her own experiences. Though the principle stories she tells are not directly her own, they still affected her. Her film presents her own negotiations with these issues, and her possible solutions. I do not take direct part in the presentation of my story like Elizabeth does, but I do tell the story that I had hoped to tell by asking specific questions and editing the responses into a cohesive argument. I didn’t ask my fiancée for anything we hadn’t already discussed however, and stayed true to the essence of his message in the edit. In the end, I hoped to achieve a similar effect as Elizabeth; to present a personal story, perhaps through the experiences of another, to better understand and navigate these issues in my own life.

In creating An Immigrant’s Story, I am also reminded of several films by John Grierson, as mentioned above. His films attempted to expose the “drama of the doorstep” by telling stories that were happening right on the home front. He didn’t want to sensationalize or evoke nostalgia with his films, but rather call attention to current issues. Grierson sought to “lead the citizen through the wilderness,” and give a voice to the voiceless. A few of the films he was involved in include, Coal Face, Night Mail, The Drifters, and Housing Problems. Each investigates circumstances and issues that were relevant at the time. With these films, he and the other filmmakers were seeking to illuminate and create awareness for the larger public. My documentary aims at a similar purpose. I don’t intend to exhaust or create a comprehensive exposition of the situation, but rather give light to it through a specific voice.

Overall, I hope that my project will at least contribute to the larger discourse of these issues. The standing of immigrants in the US and their wellbeing, is something that largely concerns me, and is something I hope to continue to investigate and understand. Ideally, I would like to be on the forefront of knowledge acquisition and generation, and eventually be a promoter for positive change. I hope that An Immigrant’s Story, and the other similar projects I am working on currently, are only the first in an extensive examination of these subjects.