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90-Second Cinema: Exiled In America
Exiled in America, an excerpt

This is from our Media That Matters™ collection. Watch the full film here: http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/watch/9/exiled_in_america
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Due to the 1996 immigration laws, legal immigrants are at risk of deportation for committing misdemeanors at the least in the United States. In the film, Exiled in America, Angela Torres Camarena portrays the sadness of a family that is suffering from the separation of the mother as an effect from those laws. Sergia Santibanez faced deportation to Mexico for importing illegal immigrants although she has been a U.S citizen for many years, while the five children are left behind to support themselves in America.

The documentary consists of commentary from Sergia’s children about her endurance of a detention center before she was forced to leave America along with voice records of Sergia and a specialist’s input on immigration laws. The close-up shots emphasize the apprehensive tone in the family members as they discuss their roles of supporting each other and the details of their mother’s departure. In a telephone recording, Sergia explains that individuals are treated like animals and need to put up with it because they do not have any rights. Footage consisting of protesters walking among the streets to promote human rights proves that individuals are currently trying to change conditions for families that are unfairly torn apart.

In this excerpt of the film, the eldest sibling, Luissana Santibanez, expresses her concern over her family as she is the one who is in charge of leading them in the right direction with their lives and she blames the government for her family’s hardships. She states, “The suffering my family faces daily makes me feel so much pain and anger against the federal government that tries to destroy us completely.” She worries for her family since she has to make the major decisions in order to keep them together, which has included convincing her younger sister to stay in America to finish school. Footage of the children is shown in a room together getting along well to show that they keep a positive attitude during difficult times since there are no parents present and the oldest brother has a mental disability. The clip demonstrates an inside look of a family in need of a mother and the outlook of the film demonstrates a need for future change in immigration laws and rights for individuals.

By Lauren Glass

 

 

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