Movies by and for immigrants, refugees, transplants and other expats. Immigration movies through Sentimental Refugee. An online magazine.

Immigration problems, issues and concerns: an online magazine for immigrants and refugees. Immigrant cartoons featured.



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ETHNIC GIFTS!

America, America The journey of a young Turk who dreams of immigrating to America. Directed and written by Elia Kazan. Note: you may not be able to find this one new, but it is worth buying from an Amazon seller.
The Price of the American Dream A Mexican family struggles with conflicts between two generations, between siblings, integrating in the American culture.
An American Tail Little Russian mouse Fievel Mousekowits travels to America by boat with his family. Fievel suddenly gets lost at sea, and is separated from his family. Now in America, Fievel is on a quest to return to his family. Will Fievel and his family reunite?
Real Women Have Curves Very good movie about a young Latina woman with immigrant parents, who, barely out of high school, struggles to find her way through life.
Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) It tells the story of young Hispanic women in Los Angeles and the struggles they have in a life of gangs, drugs, and personal betrayal.
El Norte - a beautiful film about a Guatemalen brother and sister coming to L.A.
Mississippi Masala: love story between Denzel Washington and a young Indian woman who has come to the U.S. from Uganda.
Moscow on the Hudson: Robin Williams plays a musician in a Russian circus who gets talked into defecting by a pal and does so (though the pal bails on him at the last minute)--in the middle of Bloomingdale's.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: tale of Greek-American Toula (whose family sees her as over the hill at 30), who falls for a WASPy guy named Ian (John Corbett) and then has to endure the outrage, doubt, and ultimate acceptance of her deeply ethnically centered family.
In America: Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine star as two young Irish parents who have lost their only son. Trying to run away from their grief, they move (illegally) to a junkie-infested apartment building in New York City with their two daughters, Christy (Sarah Bolger) and Ariel (Emma Bolger).
Coming to America: Young Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) is about to be wed to a beautiful woman, but the problem is he does not love her. He decides to travel to Queens, NY, and find his true love in America.
Far and Away: A young man (Tom Cruise) leaves Ireland with his landlord's daughter (Nicole Kidman) after some trouble with her father, and they dream of owning land at the big giveaway in Oklahoma ca. 1893.
My Family: Traces over three generations of Mexican immigrants. Maria and Jose, the first generation, come to Los Angeles, marry, face deportation in the 1930's. Their children Chucho, Paco, Memo, Irene, Toni, and Jimmy deal with youth culture and the L.A. police in the 50's. As the second generation become adults in the 60's, the focus shifts to Jimmy, his marriage to Isabel (a Salvadorian refugee), their son, and Jimmy's journey to becoming a responsible parent.
Dirty Pretty Things: An illegal immigrant in London named Okwe (Chiwetal Ejiofor, Amistad), a doctor in his homeland, now works days as a taxi driver and nights as a hotel desk clerk. When a hooker tells him there's a mess in one of the hotel's bathrooms, Okwe finds a human heart in the toilet. He soon discovers a snare of desperation, poverty, and black-market body organs--and finds that his only friend, a Turkish hotel maid (Tautou), may be the next to be caught.

MOVIES because picture stories are still the best invention of the 20th century.
Please email us if you know any other movies about immigrants: editor@sentimentalrefugee.com Turn to our "Interviews" page for conversations on various topics concerning the life of an immigrant (first generation or otherwise) including love / dating. Click here. If you want to contribute to the conversation and send us your personal opinion, stories or experiences click here.

FEATURED BOOK:

Disappearance of the Outside: A Manifesto for Escape

by Andrei Codrescu
Taking into account his own exile from Stalinist Romania, as well as the plights of such greats as Garcia Marquez, Breton, Dada, Kundera, and Milosz, Codrescu issues a call for those living in a free society to reach beyond a benign reality founded in technology and commercialism by tapping into their imaginations and striving for a better, evolutionary existence.

Check out our Sentimental Refugee Arts and Fun Store featuring cartoons, illustrated stories and traditions from world cultures!

"Job Interview" Cartoon: what happens when Mr. Naheed applies for a job in the United States

"A life without love is like a year without summer." Illustrated Swedish proverb.

From Russia: Vodka and Caviar. It's Party Time! Click here.

From Japan: An illustrated love story about a beautiful wife. Click here.

FEATURED INTERVIEW:

Sonia Choquette. (first generation born in the USA)
"The first thing to say about the experience of an immigrant is that people are like a tree whose roots have been cut off. Fortunately the human spirit is regenerative but only if you acknowledge that you have suffered a major psychic wound, even if you move under the best of conditions. So you can build new roots." Read more...