History Faculty

Immigration to the U.S.

This is a guide for sources available for historians at Boston College targeted for professionals.

Film on Immigration to the United States

This is a filmography to films--documentaries and feature films--to do with immigration to the United States. Find documentary titles in the first list (on the left on a computer screen) and feature films (on the right). Note that films with links means BC has streaming access. Films without a title-link means we would have to search for access.

Write your subject librarian with any questions or concerns.

What's on This Page

This page has a lot on it. You can use the following anchors (links down the page) to jump straight to a relevant box.

Migration from Africa before 1807 (Middle Passage)

Migration from across Africa to North America before 1807 was usually forced migration part of the Triangle Trade. 1807 saw the publication of United States Pub.L. 9-11 ("Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves") - although it is important to remember that it did not fully stop the Transatlantic Slave Trade for some time.

Africa's Great Civilizations—Part 5 : The Atlantic Age by PBS
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2017
Henry Louis Gates Jr. explores the impact of the Atlantic trading world, giving rise to powerful new kingdoms, but also transatlantic slave trade. Learn of the revolutionary movements of the 18th & early 19th centuries, including the advent of the Sokoto Caliphate.
The Age of Slavery (1800-1860) by PBS
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2013
This film illustrates how black lives changed dramatically in the aftermath of the American Revolution. For free black people, these years were a time of opportunity, but for most African Americans, the era represented a new nadir. King Cotton fueled the rapid expansion of slavery into new territories and the forcible relocation of African Americans to the Deep South.
The Black Atlantic (1500-1800) by PBS
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2014
This program explores the global experiences that created the African-American people. Beginning a century before the first documented "20-and-odd" slaves who arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, the episode portrays the earliest Africans, slave and free, who arrived on these shores. The transatlantic slave trade soon became a vast empire connecting three continents.
Circle Unbroken, A Gullah Journey From Africa To America by MVD Entertainment Group
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2014
Sevent-five percent of all enslaved Africans coming to America came through the ports of Charleston, Beaufort and the sea islands of South Carolina. This beautiful, picturesque tourist destination is the epicenter of the Gullah culture; the foundation of African-American history. From the horrors of Middle Passage slave voyages to the celebration of freedom, Circle Unbroken is an uplifting and emotional journey
The Color of Money Colonialism and the Slave Trade by BBC
Publication Date: 2010
Reaching back across the centuries, this program sheds light on historical attitudes toward human differences. It assesses the significance of Biblical narratives, including the "curse of Ham," in the evolution of European concepts of race, and goes on to examine the basis of institutionalized racism-entwined with fervent capitalism-on which the transatlantic slave trade operated. The destruction of America's indigenous civilizations and the dehumanization and exploitation of Africans are studied alongside the writings of Enlightenment philosophers and historians.
Prince among slaves
Call Number: DVD
Publication Date: 2008
The true story of Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima Ibn Sori, a West African prince who was sold into slavery in 1788, eventually ending up in Natchez, Mississippi.
Roots : A History Revealed by A&E
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2016
A one-hour, unblinking, and fact-filled look at the real history of slavery, as revealed in "Roots." This documentary features leading historians unpacking the history behind Africa at the time of Kunte Kint, the Middle Passage, and slavery on plantations.
Sacred journeys with Bruce Feiler. Episode 6, Osun-Osogbo
Call Number: PBS Video
Publication Date: 2014
Host Bruce Feiler travels to Nigeria with a group of African American pilgrims who are attending an annual festival in honor of the Yoruba Goddess Osun as a way to reconnect with their cultural and spiritual roots. This indigenous African faith, sometimes called Orisa Devotion, was first carried to the Americas during the Transatlantic Slave Trade where it evolved and spread to become one of the ten largest religions in the world with upwards of 100 million practitioners.
Ships of Slaves: The Middle Passage by Christen Harty Schaefer
Publication Date: 1997
A documentary narrated by Debbie Allen that chronicles the the plight of African-Americans during the Middle Passages and the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Slave Trade by PBS
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2020
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. journeys with film director Ava DuVernay, actor S. Epatha Merkerson, and musician Questlove to the unexpected places where their ancestors were scattered by slavery, upending their notions of African American history—and their own family trees.
Emancipation Road: 1625-1863 - The Shadows of Slavery by Mill Creek Entertainment
Publication Date: 2014
This first episode takes a look into the history of slavery in the United States, from the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade to the Civil War.
For more information, see the Kanopy page.

Migration from Africa after 1807

Asylum by Sandy McLeod
Publication Date: 2003
A powerful tale of a young Ghanian woman whose life suddenly changes when her father insists that she undergo a bloody, life-threatening circumcision and then marry an old man.
Identity, voice & community among new African immigrants to Kansas by Kansas African Studies Center with support of the Kansas Humanities Council
Publication Date: 2006
40 min.
Highlights the emergence in metropolitan Kansas of multiple and unique African communities--from Somalia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Zanzibar, and elsewhere.
The Letter: An American Town and the 'Somali Invasion' by Ziad Hamzeh
Publication Date: 2005
76 min.
Lost boys of Sudan by Megan Mylan & Jon Shenk
Publication Date: 2004
87 min.
Rain in a Dry Land by Anne Makepeace
Publication Date: 2006
82 min.
chronicles the experiences of two Bantu as they are transported by relief organizations from Kenyan refugee camps to Atlanta, Georgia and then Springfield, Massachusetts.
Rosevelt's America : A Refugee's Inspiring Journey to Build a New Life for His Family by Roger Weisberg and Tod Lending
Publication Date: 2006
Slavery and the Making of America: The Downward Spiral [Ep. 1] by PBS / Dante J. James
Call Number: PBS
Publication Date: 2005
Episode one opens in the 1620s with the introduction of 11 men of African descent and mixed ethnicity into slavery in New Amsterdam. Working side by side with white indentured servants, these men labored to lay the foundations of the Dutch colony that would later become New York.

Migration from Asia before 1924

In 1924, the U.S. federal government published The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act, Pub.L. 68-139). Before that act, migration from across Asia to the United States was severely curtailed by law like the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act (Approved in 1882).

Ancestors in Americas Part 1: Coolies, Sailers and Settlers by Loni Ding
Publication Date: 2001
Explores how people from the Philippines, China and India first arrived on the shores of North and South America, their survival amid harsh conditions, re-migrations and settlement in the Americas.
For more information, visit the Kanopy page.
Angel Island: A Story of Chinese Immigration by NewsHour Productions
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2000
This program looks at how two women—one an artist, the other a documentary filmmaker—are raising funds and awareness to have the old immigration station restored. Slated for destruction, the station was spared in 1970 when a park ranger discovered, beneath layers of paint, poems written by anxious detainees about their fears of deportation. (12 minutes)
Becoming American: The Chinese Experience by Doctoroff Media Group
Publication Date: 2003
A series of eight documentary films, the first three providing overviews and the last five following specific individuals and their experiences.
Between two worlds by Doctoroff Media Group
Publication Date: 2003
In the early 1880s, abetted by the Chinese Exclusion Act, a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment swept across America. This program examines the exclusion years through the stories of Chinese Americans and their families who were kept apart by both ancient custom and U.S. law. These immigrants were trapped between countries, at home neither in the U.S. nor in China. The law of the land, which separated these families, also provided relief as Chinese Americans turned to the courts for justice. (89 minutes - Part of "Becoming American")
Carved In Silence: Inside Angel Island Immigration Station by Felicia Lowe
Call Number: Kanopy
Publication Date: 1988
Tells the story of Chinese immigrants who were detained at the United States Immigration Station at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay during the little known Chinese Exclusion era.
For more information, visit the Kanopy page.
Chinatown: Strangers in a Strange Land by History Education
Publication Date: 2000
This program presents a unique view of a unique place, taking viewers inside Chinatown to view the Chinese-American experience through the eyes of the people who live it every day. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (94 minutes)
The Chinese exclusion act by PBS
Publication Date: 2018
The Chinese Exclusion Actexplores in riveting detail this little known, yet deeply resonant and revealing episode in American history-one that sheds enormous light on key aspects of the history of American civil liberties, immigration, and culture-during one of the most formative periods of U.S. history.
Island of Secret Memories: Angel Island Immigration Station by Loni Ding
Short, powerful drama on the experience of early Chinese immigrants from 1910 – 1940, who were detained at San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island Immigration Station, the Ellis Island of the West Coast.
For more information see the CAAM page.
Issei: The First Generation by Toshi Washizu
Publication Date: 1984
About Japanese men and women who, at the turn of the century, immigrated to the West Coast of the United States. These pioneers tell their own stories of struggles and triumphs in a new land.
For more information, visit the CAAM page.
We Came to Grow: Japanese Americans in the Central Valley 1869-1941 by Heather Searles
A chronicle of the first Japanese to settle in California’s Central Valley and their impact on the state’s leading industry. The establishment of the Wakamatsu Colony in Gold Country near Coloma in 1869, by refugees fleeing civil war in the Aizu-Wakamatsu area of Japan, begins a story strongly linked to California’s rise as an agricultural force.
CAAM for more information.

Migration from Asia after 1924

The Betrayal – Nerakhoon by Ellen Kuras; Thavisouk Phrasavath
Publication Date: 2008
Daughter from Danang by Gail Dolgin; Vicente Franco
Call Number: PBS
Publication Date: 2002
Dollar a Day, Ten Cents a Dance
A Dream in Doubt by Tami Yeager
Publication Date: 2007
56 min.
A look at post-9/11 hate crimes against Sikhs in America.
Family Gathering by New Day Films
Publication Date: 1988
Monkey Dance by Julie Mallozzi
Publication Date: 2004
New Year Baby by Socheata Poeuv
Publication Date: 2006
80 min.
Odysseus' Gambit by Alex Lora Cercos
Publication Date: 2011
Roots in the Sand by Jayasri Majumdar Hart
Sa-I-Gu: From Korean Women’s Perspective by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson
Sentenced Home by David Grabias and Nicole Newnham
Like many young Cambodian Americans who arrived in the U.S. as refugees in the ’80s, Loeun Lun, Many Uch and Kim Ho Ma hoped for the best. Little did they know that their destinies, guided by youthful mistakes and the unforeseeable events of 9/11, would bring them full-circle decades later: from birth in Cambodia to an unwilling return.
CAAM for more information.
Sewing Woman by Arthur Dong
Publication Date: 1982
14 min.
Silent Sacrifices: Voices of the Filipino American Family by Patricia Heras
Intent on breaking the silence that allows dysfunctions to develop, the documentary and its accompanying educational guide offer an invaluable starting point for enhancing family communication within one of the country’s fastest growing demographics.
CAAM for more information.
Turbans by Erika Surat Andersen
Based on the memoirs of the filmmaker’s grandmother, TURBANS explores the inner struggles of an Asian Indian immigrant family torn between their cultural traditions and the desire for social acceptance in America. Although born in the United States, the Singh boys are attacked for being different. The turbans they wear, a tradition sacred to their Sikh ancestors, serve only to identify them as outsiders in the prejudiced landscape of Astoria, Oregon, circa 1918.
CAAM for more information.
Whose Children Are These? by Theresa Thanjan
WHOSE CHILDREN ARE THESE? provides a gripping view into the world of three Muslim teenagers affected by post 9/11 domestic anti-terrorism security measures. One such program, ‘Special Registration,’ required male non-citizens – as young as the age of 16 and from 25 countries – to register with the U.S. government and resulted in the discriminatory deportation of many.
Yellow Tale Blues : Two American Families by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima
Publication Date: 1991
29 min
Golden Venture by Peter Cohn
Publication Date: 2006
The film chronicles the ongoing struggles of passengers who were aboard the Golden Venture, an immigrant smuggling ship that ran aground near New York City in 1993. Passengers had paid at least $30,000 to be brought to the U.S. from China's Fujian Province, expecting to arrive indebted but unnoticed.
Every Day is a Holiday by Theresa Loong
Publication Date: 2013
Chinese-American filmmaker Theresa Loong creates an intimate portrait of her father, a man fifty years her senior. In this documentary, we explore the bonds of the father-daughter relationship and place themes of growing older, immigration and racism in the context of “living history.”

European Migration

America: Promised Land by A&E
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2017
This program reveals the epic history behind the creation of America, exploring how and why our ancestors came to this country. From the Dutch living in New Amsterdam seeking the wealth offered by the fur trade, through the English Quakers who fled persecution. Distributed by A&E Television Networks.
America’s Untold Story
The first permanent European settlement in the United States was founded two generations before the Pilgrims arrived in 1565—not by English Protestants, but by a melting pot of Spanish, Africans, Italians, Germans, Irish and converted Jews, who integrated almost immediately with the indigenous tribes. America’s Untold Story, from Secrets of the Dead, uncovers the story of America’s past that never made it into textbooks.
[PBS Trailer]
Ellis Island by Lisa Bourgoujian
Publication Date: 1997
Between 1892 and 1954 over twelve million people came through Ellis Island to the United States. Their stories are told through interviews and vintage photographs.
Forgotten Ellis Island by Lorie Conway
Publication Date: 2008
62 min.
Visit the abandoned immigrant hospital on Ellis Island. During the great wave of immigration, 22 medical buildings sprawled across two islands adjacent to Ellis Island, the ...
Fourth Partition by Adrian Prawica
Publication Date: 2013
75 min.
At the Dawn of the 20th century, Chicago was the second largest city in the United Staates with over 2,000,000 residents. It was also the center of Polish culture and political activism in ...
Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl: Immigrant Women in the Turn-of-the-Century City by Joshua Brown
Call Number: American Social History Project
Publication Date: 1993
An unexpected friendship between two Italian and Jewish immigrant girls provides the backdrop for this story of labor organizing and women’s growing activism. While working in harsh sweatshops and factories, the young women also experienced the thrills of movies, amusement parks and dance halls. As their numbers in the workforce grew and working conditions declined they took matters into their own hands. In 1909, garment workers staged the “Uprising of the 20,000,” a massive strike that won union recognition and transformed the role of women in the union movement. (Length: 30 minutes)
Irish in America by History Education
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 1997
This A&E Special discusses how the customs and traditions of Irish immigrants to the United States shaped mainstream American culture. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (90 minutes)
Island of Hope - Island of Tears by National Park Service
Call Number: Internet Archive
Publication Date: 1989
From 1892-1954, Ellis Island was the port of entry for millions of European immigrants. Fascinating archival footage tells the moving story of families with dreams of opportunity, leaving their homes with what they could carry.
The Italian Americans by PBS, John Maggio
Call Number: PBS
Publication Date: 2015
Learn what spurred Italian immigration to the U.S. and why those immigrants faced discrimination.
Out of Ireland : the Story of Irish Emigration to America by American Focus, Inc.
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 1995
A documentary about Irish emigration to America, from the famine-swept villages of 19th century Ireland to the industrialized cities of 20th century America. It is told through the lives and letters of eight immigrants and features the voices of Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Gabriel Byrne and more.
Remembering Ellis Island : Everyman's Monument by Infobase
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2005
A comprehensive documentary of the Ellis Island story in all its complexity. We take you behind the scenes into the memory-haunted ruins of unrestored Ellis Island.
Swedes in America by Irving Lerner
Publication Date: 1943
17 min.
Ingrid Bergman talks about Swedish Americans.
Was produced by the U.S. Office of War Information for educational use as part of its overseas information program. You can find some stock footage on the Internet Archive.
They Came for Good: A History of the Jew in the US by Amram Nowak
Publication Date: 1997
Two-part PBS series that tells the fascinating true story of 250 years of Jewish immigration in America.
West of Hester Street by Cynthia and Allen Mondell
Publication Date: 1983
Dramatizes the efforts of American Jewish leaders between 1881 and 1914 to settle new immigrants where there were jobs - the unlikely port of Galveston, Texas.
For more information, see the JFI.
Zaritsas: Russian Women in New York by Elena Mosaner
Publication Date: 2010
72 minutes
Filmmaker Elena Mosaner examines the stereotypes about Russian Women in New York.

Latin American Migration

90 Miles
Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey
Al otro lado
Publication Date: 2005
And the Pursuit of Happiness by Louis Malle
Publication Date: 1986
Balseros by Carles Bosch; Josep Maria Domènech
Publication Date: 2002
Birders
The documentary short BIRDERS, directed by Otilia Portillo Padua (Diario a Tres Voces), celebrates those who observe, record, monitor and fight for the rights and habitats of these species, demonstrating another way to think about the passage for survival that is migration.
Border by Christopher Burgard
Publication Date: 2007
Border War : the Battle Over Illegal Immigration by Kevin Knoblock
Publication Date: 2006
The human and drug trafficking across the border between the United States and Mexico has been called the illegal immigration invasion. The lives of five individuals affected by the rise in illegal immigration are documented.
Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration by Kevin Knoblock
Publication Date: 2006
The Caretaker and The Mayor : two short films on immigration by Theo Rigby
Publication Date: 2014
18 min.
The Caretaker and The Mayor are two powerful short films that explore contemporary immigration issues in the U.S. through intimate portraits of relationships between recent immigrants, and those who came to the U.S. generations ago.
Children in No Man's Land by Anayansi Prado
Publication Date: 2008
39 min.
A documentary that uncovers the current plight of the 100,000 unaccompanied minors entering the United States every year. The film will give this timely political debate about the U.S.-Mexico border a human face by exploring the stories of Maria de Jesus (13) and her cousin Rene (12) as they attempt to cross the US/Mexico border alone to reunite with their mothers in the Midwest.
Clinica de Migrantes by HBO; Maxim Pozdorovkin
Publication Date: 2016
Crossing Arizona by Joseph Mathew, Dan DeVivo
Publication Date: 2006
Shines needed illumination on the complicated and emotional debate over illegal immigration in the United States. Heightened security at the U.S./Mexico border has forced border crossers into the treacherous terrain of Arizona's brutal desert.
Culture Clash in AmeriCCa by Emilio Estevez
Publication Date: 2005
Death on a Friendly Border by Rachel Antell
Publication Date: 2002
The border that runs between Tijuana and San Diego is the most heavily militarized border between "friendly" countries anywhere in the world. Since 1994 when the U.S. instituted Operation Gatekeeper, an average of one person a day has died crossing into the U.S. The policy has been condemned by the UN Commissioner of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International....
De Nadie by Tin Dirdamal
Publication Date: 2005
De nadie = Border crossing by Tin Dirdamal
Publication Date: 2005
Follow one man as he leaves behind everything in Central America. With little sense of direction and only his family's memories as company, he faces the dangers in Mexico and tries to cross into freedom and the United States.
Don't Tell Anyone (No Le Digas a Nadie) by Mikaela Shwer
Call Number: PBS
Publication Date: 2015
Echando Raices = Taking Root : Immigrant and Refugee Communities in California, Texas and Iowa by J.T. Takagi
Publication Date: 2002
Discusses: the factors that bring immigrants to the U.S., beliefs and assumptions about immigrants, the systematic exploitation of immigrants, and what people can do to collectively work for social justice.
El Inmigrante by David and John Eckenrode John Sheedy
Publication Date: 2005
90 min.
Farmingville by Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini
78 min.
A documentary film which looks at the people of Farmingville, New York, and at how they are dealing with the influx of about 1,500 Mexican workers.
The garden
Publication Date: 2009
80 min.
The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods.
Geronimo : His Story
Publication Date: 1996
26 min.
eronimo Mendoza Sanchez came to the United States in 1986 as an "illegal alien," not knowing a word of English. He worked by day and went to school by night, learned English, and sent money home to Mexico. Geronimo shares the same dreams and goals a many Mexicans have who come to the U.S.
Harvest of empire : the untold story of Latinos in America by Peter Getzels & Eduardo López
Publication Date: 2012
Examines the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today....Based on the ground-breaking book by award-winning journalist Juan González.
La ciudad = The city by David Riker
Publication Date: 1998
The stories of four Hispanic immigrants living in New York City.
Latino Americans : the 500-year legacy that shaped a nation. Episode 4, The new Latinos by Benjamin Bratt
Call Number: PBS
Publication Date: 2013
Review the decades after World War II through the early 1960s, as swelling numbers of immigrants from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic seek economic opportunities.
Life on the Line by Cactus Media
Publication Date: 2008
32 min.
Living in America: A Hundred Years Of Ybor City by Gayla Jamison
Publication Date: 1989
54 min.
Los trabajadores = The workers by Heather Courtney
Publication Date: 2003
48 min.
Made in L.A. by Almudena Carracedo
Publication Date: 2007
Maid in America by Anayansi Prado
Publication Date: 2004
57 min.
Miles from the border by Ellen Frankenstein
Publication Date: 2005
15 min.
Natives : Immigrant Bashing On the Border by Jesse Lerner and Scott Sterling
Publication Date: 1993
25 min.
Papapapá by Alex Rivera
Publication Date: 1995
Sin País (Without Country)
Publication Date: 2010
20 min.
Under the same moon
Publication Date: 2007
Walking the Line
Publication Date: 2006
Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary
Publication Date: 2004
Which Way Home by HBO
Publication Date: 2009

MENA Migration

Clouds over Sidra by Gabo Arora and Chris Milk
Publication Date: 2015
The List by Beth Murphy
Publication Date: 2012
83 min.

Overviews

9500 Liberty
Admissions : student stories from undocumented America by Chloe Smolarski and Tasha Darbes
Publication Date: 2012
Is a character driven, feature-length creative nonfiction film exploring the highly personal stories of four undocumented college students: Blanca, Charlie, Viridiana and Jong Min.
America By the Numbers by Futuro Media Group
Publication Date: 2014
This series explores the impact of the growing number of Asians, Latinos, African Americans, persons of mixed race, immigrants, women, youth and LGBTs whose influence over culture, commerce and the outcome of elections is affecting every aspect of the life in America.
Borderless lives of undocumented workers by Kairos
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2006
How much do American and Canadian citizens really understand about the personal, social, and economic struggles of undocumented workers? This program deepens that understanding, providing an intimate look inside the lives of two non-status migrant laborers.
Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip by Alexandra Pelosi
Publication Date: 2011
Destination America : [the People and Cultures That Created a Nation] by David Grubin
Publication Date: 2005
Looks at the driving forces that have compelled individuals to immigrate to America and, in particular, the immigration of women who have come to this country in search of opportunity and basic human rights denied them in their homelands.
The Distorted Image : stereotype and caricature in American popular graphics, 1850-1922 by Anti-Defamation League
Publication Date: 1992
Cartoons and caricatures from American popular publications, reflecting widespread attitudes toward immigrant racial, ethnic, and religious minorities in the United States, 1850-1922.
Faces of America : with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. by PBS
Publication Date: 2010
What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series Faces of America.
The History of the United States : U.S. Immigrants a Multi-Cultural Journey by TMW Media
Publication Date: 2005
18 min.
Discover attitudes about immigration, learn why millions emigrate to America and how immigrants effect national culture.
(Part of the Series A Nation Of Immigrants on Kanopy.)
I Learn America by Jean-Michel Dissard & Gitte Peng
Publication Date: 2013
The children of immigration, here to stay, are the new Americans. How we fare in welcoming them will determine the nature of this country in the 21st century and beyond. The International High School is a New York City public school dedicated to serving newly arrived immigrant teenagers, with more than 300 students speaking two-dozen languages from 50 countries.
Immigration by JumpStart Productions
Publication Date: 2006
A compilation of four previously aired NOW episodes on the topic of immigration in the United States.
Immigration, Social policy, and Employment by Governor's State University / Mark Kundla
Publication Date: 2001
59 min.
Film deals with the social and economic reasons people immigrated to America.
Immigration : A Northern Experience by A student project for Race and Ethnic Diversity at NWTC
Call Number: YouTube
Publication Date: 2012
Addresses immigration in the Upper Peninsula.
In Jackson Heights by Frederick Wiseman
Publication Date: 2015
190 min.
Journey to America by Charles Guggenheim
Publication Date: 1990
60 min.
A tribute to the over 12 million immigrants entering the United States between 1890-1920. Part of the American Experience series.
Journey to freedom : the immigrant experience. by AIMS Media
Publication Date: 1986
13 min.
This program uses vintage photographs and newsreel footage to tell the story of American immigration over the past century.
The New Americans by Kartemquin Educational Films
Publication Date: 2008
Follows four years of the lives of a group of contemporary immigrants as they journey to start new lives in America, including a couple from India in Silicon Valley, a Mexican meatpacker in rural Kansas, two families of Nigerian refugees, two baseball players from the Dominican Republic joining the L.A. Dodgers, and a newly-wed Palestinian woman in Chicago. The detailed portraits of these immigrants not only result in a kaleidoscope of immigrant life but offer 'first impressions' of America.
For information on the DVD, see BC Libraries' catalog.
New American soldier : [fighting for America, fighting to become American] by Emma Cott, Anna Belle Peeve
Publication Date: 2010
Papers : stories of undocumented youth
Publication Date: 2010
The Statue of Liberty by Ken Burns
Publication Date: 1985
Transforming America : U.S. History Since 1877 : Moving to the City
Publication Date: c2005
United Gates of America by Alex Cooke / BBC
Publication Date: 2006
60 min.
Uprooted : Refugees of the Global Economy by National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights with the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights
Publication Date: 2001
Waking Dream series by Theo Rigby, iNation Media
Publication Date: 2018
Waking Dream weaves together the stories of six undocumented young people as they sit in limbo between deportation and a path to citizenship. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) has provided nearly 800,000 undocumented young people a chance to work legally, go to college, start businesses, and pursue the “American Dream.” ...
For more information, see the iNation page.

Process and Law

14: Dred Scott, Wong Kim Ark and Vanessa Lopez by Anne Galisky
Publication Date: 2014
Explores the recurring question about who has the right to be an American citizen. 14 examines the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment through compelling personal stories and expertly-told history.
For more information, visit the Kanopy page.
Abandoned : the betrayal of America's immigrants by David Belle and Nicholas Wrathall
Publication Date: 2000
Films looks at the personal impact of new immigration laws in the U.S.
AbUSed: The Postville Raid by Luis Argueta
Publication Date: 2010
Through gripping personal narratives, this documentary tells the story of the people, families, and town that survived the largest, most expensive, and most brutal immigration raid in United States history. More information available at http://abusedthepostvilleraid.com/.
Arizona : resisting SB 1070 immigration law by National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Publication Date: 2010
These four videos document the impact of SB 1070 and other immigration policies on the lives of immigrant families in Arizona, and the growing national efforts to end these violations of human and civil rights. SB 1070, signed into law by Arizona Governor Brewer in April 2010, made it a crime not to carry documentation at all times – and gave local police broad powers to detain anyone they suspected of possibly being undocumented.
Discovering Your Roots: An Introduction to Genealogy by Great Courses
Publication Date: 2014
With Discovering Your Roots: An Introduction to Genealogy, you'll learn the same skills and methodologies the experts use to solve genealogical mysteries and create compelling nonfiction narratives about the past.
DREAM : an American story by Aldo Bello
Publication Date: 2014
et in today’s heated immigration debate and polarized political climate, the film examines the US’s currently dysfunctional immigration system through the personal stories of individuals struggling under the constant threat of deportation, the rise of the national student and youth activist movement advocating for passage of the DREAM Act, and the impact of immigration policy and laws on the nation.
How Democracy Works Now by HBO / Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini
Publication Date: 2010
Immigrant Nation! The Battle for the Dream by Esaú Meléndez
Publication Date: 2010
Immigrant Prisons by Brave New Films
Publication Date: 2017
Each year, the U.S. government locks up roughly 440,000 immigrants in over 200 immigrant prisons. These prisons have grown into a highly privatized, lucrative and abusive industry that profits off misery.
Immigration Battle: Reasons to Believe by The Epidavros Project
Publication Date: 2015
hy has it been so hard for Washington to fix America's broken immigration system?Go behind closed doors in Washington's corridors of power to explore the political realities surrounding one of the country's most pressing and divisive issues.
Immigration in the belly of the beast : a discussion at the US Social Forum in Atlanta, June 29, 2007 by Z Video Productions
Publication Date: 2007
This plenary discussion at the 2007 United States Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia covers immigration in the U.S. today from a variety of perspectives: Latino/a, African American, Native American, LGBTQ youth, union organizing, and human rights.
The Immigration Issue by Link Media, Inc.
Call Number: Internet Archive
Publication Date: 2008
The immigration issue in the U.S. is once again a hot topic of discussion. It is an election year, and the economy is in a downturn. The United States is a nation founded on immigration, however, with every new wave of immigrants, social and economic pressures often cause a backlash.
Lost in Detention : the Hidden World of Immigration Enforcement by FrontLine
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2011
55 min.
Since President Obama took office, deportations and detentions have reached record levels. The get-tough policy has brought complaints of abuse and harsh treatment. FRONTLINE investigates Obama's enforcement strategies and journeys into the secretive world of immigrant detention, with a penetrating look at who is being detained and what is happening to them.
The other side of immigration by Roy Germano
Publication Date: 2010
This documentary is based on over 700 interviews with men and women in the Mexican countryside. The film explores why so many people leave small Mexican towns to work in the United States and what happens to the families and communities they leave behind.
For access to the DVD, check out the BC Libraries' catalog.
Out of Status by Pia Sawhney and Sanjna N. Singh
Publication Date: 2005
66 min.
Before 9/11, there was an implicit understanding between the INS and immigrant communities that people who had applications pending to legalize their status could reside in the country ...
Ties that bind immigration stories by Maryknoll World Productions
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 1996
This program looks at the human drama behind the current debate over U.S. immigration policy. It roams both sides of the Texas-Mexico border, exploring the root causes of why Mexicans immigrate. The role played by transnational corporations and their social and economic impact on both Mexicans and other North Americans is considered. ...
The Unfinished Nation-Coming to America: Portrait of Colonial Life by INTELECOM
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2004
Examines the transatlantic journey to colonial America and documents the way of life of indentured servants and slaves. Discusses newcomers' adaptation and the integration of their cultures in a newly formed community.
Well-Founded Fear by Shari Robertson & Michael Camerini
Publication Date: 2000
Explores the workings of the American Immigration and Naturalization Service which decide the fates of thousands of asylum-seekers.
For information on access in the BC Libraries, see our catalog.

Feature Films for Pre-1924 Migration

An American Tail by Don Bluth
Publication Date: 1986
80 min.
Animated. While emigrating to the United States, a young Russian mouse gets separated from his family and must relocate them while trying to survive in a new country.
Avalon by Barry Levinson
Publication Date: 1990
A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.
Trailer on YouTube.
The Basket by Rich Cowan
Publication Date: 2001
Set in the United States during World War I, is a quiet family film about tolerance and basketball. German orphans Helmut and Brigitta are adopted by the pastor in the tiny farming town of Waterville, Washington.
The Emigrants by Jan Troell
Publication Date: 1971
Småland, Sweden, mid-19th century. A farming family struggle with their rocky, unyielding land, and decide to embark on the arduous journey to new hope in America.
Far and Away by Ron Howard
Publication Date: 1992
A young Irish couple flee to the States, but subsequently struggle to obtain land and prosper freely.
Gangs Of New York by Martin Scorsese
Publication Date: 2002
n 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.
Trailer on YouTube.
Golden Door by Emanuele Crialese
Publication Date: 2006
A Sicilian peasant begins the journey to the promised land and meets a beautiful Englishwoman. But neither is prepared for the harsh realities of Ellis Island. Can they make it through the golden door to the America of their dreams?
Heaven’s Gate by Michael Cimino
Publication Date: 1980
A dramatization of the real-life Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, in which a Sheriff born into wealth, attempts to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
Trailer on YouTube.
The Immigrant by James Gray
Publication Date: 2014
1921. An innocent immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.
Trailer on DailyMotion.
The Immigrant by Charlie Chaplin
Call Number: Internet Archive
Publication Date: 1917
Charlie is an immigrant who endures a challenging voyage and gets into trouble as soon as he arrives in America.
The Immigrant Experience : the Long, Long Journey by Joan Micklin Silver
Publication Date: 1972
Dramatization with narrated sequences. Seventeenth in a series on events that shaped the American nation. More than 35 million people came to America in the century between 1820 and 1920, and their story is told in this moving portrayal of one family that arrives in the United States from Poland in 1907.
Immigration by Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Inc.
Call Number: Internet Archive
Publication Date: 1946
Reviews the history of immigration to the United States up to the restrictive law passed in 1924. A dramatized scene in a European steamship office is used to show the economic, political and religious motives for immigration.
I Remember Mama by George Stevens
Publication Date: 1948
The ups and downs of a Norwegian immigrant family, circa 1910.
Trailer on YouTube.
Nybyggarna (The New Land) by Jan Troell
Publication Date: 1972
A Swedish immigrant family struggle to establish a new life for themselves in the forest of Minnesota in the mid 19th Century.
Sweet Land : A Love Story
Publication Date: c2006

Feature Films for Post-1924 Migration

A.K.A. Don Bonus by Spencer Nakasako, Sokly Ny
Publication Date: 1995
This diaristic documentary follows Sokly Ny, an under-priveledged and under-represented immigrant minority student, through his final year of high school in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ny, ...
Alambrista! by Robert M. Young
Publication Date: 1977
After the birth of his first child, Roberto, a young Mexican man slips across the border into the United States. Seeking work to support his family back home, he finds that working hard is not enough.
America America by Elia Kazan
Publication Date: 1963
A young Anatolian Greek, entrusted with his family's fortune, loses it en route to Istanbul and dreams of going to the United States.
An American Rhapsody by Éva Gárdos
Publication Date: 2001
A young Hungarian girl struggles to find her place in the world when she's reunited with her parents in the USA years after she was left behind during their flight from the communist country in the 1950s.
Babel by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Publication Date: 2006
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.
A Better Life by Chris Weitz
Publication Date: 2011
A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while trying to give his son the opportunities he never had.
Bread and Roses by Ken Loach
Publication Date: 2000
Two Latina sisters work as cleaners in a downtown office building, and fight for the right to unionize.
Brooklyn by John Crowley
Publication Date: 2015
An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
Coming To America by John Landis
Publication Date: 1988
An extremely pampered African Prince travels to Queens, New York, and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and will.
Crossing Over by Wayne Kramer
Publication Date: 2009
Crossing Over is about illegal aliens of many nationalities in the Los Angeles area and the authorities and individuals dealing with them.
Dancer In The Dark by Lars von Trier
Publication Date: 2000
An East European girl travels to the United States with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film.
District 9 by Neill Blomkamp
Publication Date: 2009
Violence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
El Norte by Gregory Nava
Publication Date: 1983
Peasants escaping mindless labor and a murderous Guatemalan government head to America in hopes for something better.
Entre nos by Gloria La Morte, Paola Mendoza
Publication Date: 2009
A story based on facts which offers a fresh take on the issue of new immigrants in the United States. Mariana totes her two children from Colombia to reunite with her husband in Queens, New...
Fatima’s Drawings by Magnus Wennman
Publication Date: 2016
The Godfather Part II by Francis Ford Coppola
Publication Date: 1974
The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.
Gran Torino by Clint Eastwood
Publication Date: 2008
Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, Thao Lor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.
Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King
Publication Date: 2017
The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj performs to a packed house at the Mondavi Center in Minhaj’s hometown of Davis, CA. The special draws on his experience as a Muslim American, as Minhaj riffs on racism, immigrant parents, prom night horrors and more.
House of Sand and Fog by Vadim Perelman
Publication Date: 2003
An abandoned wife is evicted from her house and starts a tragic conflict with her house's new owners.
Illegal by Ric Dupont
Publication Date: 2013
Tells the stories of five people from Ciudad de Juarez who dream of a better life in the U.S.
Immigrants (L.A. Dolce Vita) by Gabor Csupo
Publication Date: 2008
Jóska, a Hungarian immigrant in Los Angeles is sharing an apartment with the Russian Vladislav. In their search for the "American Dream" they get into all kinds of troubles, wild adventures...
In America by Jim Sheridan
Publication Date: 2002
A family of Irish immigrants adjust to life on the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen while also grieving the death of a child.
The Joy Luck Club by Wayne Wang
Publication Date: 1993
The life histories of four Asian women and their daughters reflect and guide each other.
The Kite Runner by Marc Forster
Publication Date: 2007
After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.
Machete by Ethan Maniquis, Robert Rodriguez
Publication Date: 2010
After being set-up and betrayed by the man who hired him to assassinate a Texas Senator, an ex-Federale launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss.
Man Push Cart by Ramin Bahrani
Publication Date: 2005
A night in the life of a former Pakistani rock star who now sells coffee from his push cart on the streets of Manhattan.
Maria Full Of Grace by Joshua Marston
Publication Date: 2004
A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.
Moscow on the Hudson by Paul Mazursky
Publication Date: 1984
A Russian saxophonist visiting New York with a circus troupe suddenly decides to defect from the USSR during a shopping trip to a department store, but he finds adjusting to American life more difficult than he imagined.
La Americana by Nicholas Bruckman
Publication Date: 2012
When nine-year-old Carla suffers a life-threatening accident, her mother, Carmen, must leave her behind and make the dangerous and illegal journey from Bolivia to the U.S., where she hopes to earn enough to save her daughter’s life. Working in New York to support Carla’s medical needs, Carmen struggles in vain to legalize her immigration status, and wrestles with the prospect of never seeing her daughter again.
Namesake by Mira Nair
Publication Date: 2006
American-born Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, wants to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family's unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways.
North Star Fading by Illustrated by Karrie Fransman, sound and voiceover by Lula Mebrahtu
Publication Date: 2018
A short film inspired by the testimonies of 4 Eritrean refugees. Go to the official website of the organization Positive Negatives to learn more.
Scarface by Brian De Palma
Publication Date: 1983
In 1980 Miami, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.
Sin Nombre by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Publication Date: 2009
A Honduran young girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the American border.
Spanglish by James L. Brooks
Publication Date: 2004
A woman and her daughter emigrate from Mexico for a better life in America, where they start working for a family where the patriarch is a newly celebrated chef with an insecure wife.
Stranger Than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch
Publication Date: 1984
A New Yorker's life is thrown into a tailspin when his younger cousin surprise-visits him, starting a strange, unpredictable adventure.
Stroszek by Werner Herzog
Publication Date: 1977
In Berlin, an alcoholic man, recently released from prison, joins his elderly friend and a prostitute in a determined dream to leave Germany and seek a better life in Wisconsin.
Trailer on YouTube.
Sugar by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Publication Date: 2008
Dominican baseball star Miguel "Sugar" Santos is recruited to play in the U.S. minor-leagues.
Under the Same Moon by Patricia Riggen
Publication Date: 2007
A young Mexican boy illegally travels to the U.S. to find his mother (who is illegally in the U.S.) after his grandmother passes away.
Vida Diferida by Brenda Ávila-Hanna
Publication Date: 2014
After the announcement of the policy known as "Deferred Action", Vanessa, an undocumented teenager, contemplates the possibility of a future she was ready to give up on. How will this life-changing opportunity impact...
For more information, check out the Kanopy page.
The Visitor by Tom McCarthy
Publication Date: 2007
A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
West Side Story by Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise
Publication Date: 1961
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.

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Immigration to the U.S.

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What's on This Page

Migration from Africa before 1807 (Middle Passage)

Migration from Africa after 1807

Migration from Asia before 1924

Migration from Asia after 1924

European Migration

Latin American Migration

MENA Migration

Overviews

Process and Law

Feature Films for Pre-1924 Migration

Feature Films for Post-1924 Migration