The New Americans follows four years in the lives of a diverse group of contemporary immigrants and refugees as they journey to start new lives in America. We follow an Indian couple to Silicon Valley through the dot-com boom and bust. A Mexican meatpacker struggles to reunite his family in rural Kansas. Two families of Nigerian refugees (including the sister of slain Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa) escape government persecution. Two Los Angeles Dodgers prospects follow their big dreams of escaping the barrios of the Dominican Republic. A Palestinian woman who marries into a new life in Chicago only to discover in the wake of September 11, she cannot leave behind the pain of her homeland’s conflict.
Kartemquin assembled a team of talented directors including the creators of Hoop Dreams, Who Killed Vincent Chin, and Vietnam, Long Time Coming. The detailed portraits that resulted were woven into a seven-hour miniseries that presents a kaleidoscopic picture of immigrant life and a first impression of the U.S. that few born in America can imagine.
411 minutes
Kartemquin in the classroom
May 9, 2008
Kartemquin's Jim Morrissette and Julie Englander met with 7th and 8th grade video students at the Eli Whitney/LVCDC Community School in Little Village on Thursday, where they screened clips from Now We Live on Clifton, The New Americans, and a few of Jim's PSAs, and talked about working as documentary filmmakers. The Little Village community and LVCDC had been the subjects of some Kartemquin filming in the winter, and this class was a great opportunity to demonstrate a little bit more of what Kartemquin does, as well as introduce ourselves to a new generation of video fans!
- Executive Producers
- Steve James
- Gordon Quinn
- Series Producer
- Gita Saedi
- Dominican Story Directors/Producers
- Susana Aiken
- Carlos Aparicio
“As each character invents a life against obstacles significantly unlike those faced by Europeans coming to America, viewers must drop their sentimental conceptions of immigration and submit to the new ideas and images that are so judiciously and artfully rendered here.”
—Virginia Hefferman, The New York Times
PBS Independent Lens Series, 2004
2004 IDA Limited Series Award
Council on Foundations Film Festival, 2005-2006
The 40th Chicago International Television Competition–Gold Hugo, Best Television Production, 2004