They Come to America

El Batería

Invalid date •Spanish

Cuban drummer Elvis García reflects on his journey from Havana to Miami, struggling to make his way in the American city as a professional musician.

The 800 Mile Wall

July 2009 •English

"The 800 Mile Wall" highlights the construction of new border walls along the U.S.-Mexico border as well as the effect on migrants trying to cross in the U.S. This powerful 90 minute film is an unflinching look at a failed U.S. border strategy that many believe violates fundamental human rights.

Les "Folles de la Place Vendôme"

January 1985 •French

A documentary released in 1985 about the Mothers of Place Vendôme.

From the Black You Make Color

November 2012 •English

Eight women on the margins of Israeli society are thrown together during the course of a school year at Tel Aviv's oldest beauty school. Amidst the combs and colorings, these women present a microcosm of modern-day Tel Aviv -- native Israelis and new immigrants, Asians and Africans, among them women struggling with cancer and personal loss. As they learn to create beauty without, each woman undergoes a powerful transformation within.

Not My Job

December 2015 •Russian

The documentary follows the life of Farroukh, a young Tajik immigrant who lives in Moscow outskirts with his family and does odd jobs in dreams of becoming an actor.

My Life Inside

January 2007 •Spanish

Rosa is a Mexican woman who, at the age of 17, migrated illegally to Austin, Texas. Some years later, she was jailed under suspicion of murder and then taken to trial. This film demonstrates how the judicial process, the verdict, the separation from her family, and the helplessness of being imprisoned in a foreign country make Rosa’s story an example of the hard life of Mexican migrants in the United States.

All of Me

November 2014 •Spanish

"Take my love" is a documentary film about "Las Patronas", a group of women who daily cook, pack and throw food to the migrants riding the "Beast" train.

Boiling Point

January 2017 •Finnish

Boiling Point (original title Kiehumispiste) describes the different reactions the Finnish people had to the large immigration amounts in 2015-2016.

Landscape of our Body

May 2024 •Vietnamese

As queer trans and gender non-conforming children of the Vietnamese diaspora, we are fragmented at the crossroads of being displaced from not only a sense of belonging to our ancestral land, but also our own bodies which are conditioned by society to stray away from our most authentic existence. Yet these bodies of ours are the vessels we sail to embark on a lifetime voyage of return to our original selves. It is our bodies that navigate the treacherous tides of normative systems that impose themselves on our very being. And it is our bodies that act as community lighthouses for collective liberation. Ultimately, the landscape of our bodies is our blueprint to remembering, to healing, to blooming.

Aan ons den arbeid

November 2007 •English

Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.

Visions of Europe

May 2004 •English

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

The Agency

December 2020 •Spanish

A look at the work of a group of reporters and photographers from EFE, a Spanish news agency founded in 1939, which is celebrating its eightieth anniversary. A journey around the world —Mexico, Congo, USA, Libya, France, Spain, China and the Chilean Patagonia— with the purpose of honoring all people who work in the shadows, tirelessly seeking the truth in the era of social networks and fake news.

Evaporating Borders

March 2014 •English

Evaporating Borders is a poetically photographed and rendered film on tolerance and search for identity. Told through 5 vignettes portraying the lives of migrants on the island of Cyprus, it passionately weaves themes of displacement and belonging.

Ellis Island, une histoire du rêve Américain

March 2014 •French

In 1892, Ellis Island, in New York Bay, became the main gateway to the United States for immigrants arriving increasingly from Europe. The story of immigration to the United States from 1892 to 1954, an enthralling polyphonic narrative that embraces both small and great history.

Operación Brooklyn

July 2023 •Spanish

Spain, November 5, 2021. After an emergency landing, several people traveling from Casablanca (Morocco) to Istanbul (Turkey) escape from Palma de Mallorca airport.

Amerikanuak

November 2010 •Basque

A documentary about Basque inmigrants who went to USA looking for work and a better future. Basically, Amerikanuak talks about feeling homesick, about struggling in a different country to make a decent living and about being part of a comunity.

Portrait of a Wind-up Maker

May 2015 •English

Chema is an expat architect from Spain who lives in Amsterdam. He has built up a new life there as a wind-up toy maker. He creates small pieces of art from recycle items.

The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files

June 2019 •English

David Olusoga opens secret government files to show how the Windrush scandal and the ‘hostile environment’ for black British immigrants has been 70 years in the making.

2017 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary

February 2017 •English

Brief Tender Light

January 2024 •English

At America's elite MIT, a Ghanaian alum follows four African students as they strive to graduate and become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves.