CAAM FUNDED

2009

DELANO MANONGS

By Marissa Aroy
Delano Manongs tells the unknown story of a group of Filipino farm workers who toiled under the yoke of racism for decades, then rose up as old men to fight for fair wages and humane work conditions. The Manongs instigated one of the finest hours of the American labor movement, the Great Grape Strike of 1965, which led to the formation of the internationally recognized United Farm Workers Union and made Cesar Chavez a household name.

HIGH TECH, LOW LIFE

By Stephen Maing
Inspired by a search for truth and the potential for fame, a young blogger from Hunan province challenges the boundaries of free speech by reporting on censored news stories in various cities throughout China while an older blogger from Beijing rides his bicycle throughout the mainland documenting the struggles
of villagers deep within China’s countryside. HIGH TECH, LOW LIFE captures the untold story of two of China’s first citizen reporters and the achievements of a fearless new digital generation.

MADE IN INDIA

By Rebecca Haimowitz & Vaishali Sinha
Made In India is about the human experiences behind the phenomena of “outsourcing” surrogate mothers to India. The film looks at couples across the US whose struggle with infertility has led them to seek a surrogate mother to carry their child and the surrogates who choose to carry their fetuses for a fee. What unfolds is a complicated clash of families in crisis, reproductive technology and outsourcing played out across cultures and countries.

NINOY AQUINO & THE RISE OF PEOPLE POWER

By Tom Coffman
The Philippines’ Benigno Aquino, from a stance of defending constitutional government against martial law, was subjected to eight years in prison. In the process he evolved from a “Boy Wonder” politico into a deeply thoughtful and effective practitioner of nonviolent resistance. At a time when the vast majority of people everywhere were saddled with dictatorships, he became the archetype for using nonviolence as the method for driving out national dictators and strengthening the cause of constitutional government.

OAK PARK STORY

By Valerie Soe
Oak Park Story recounts the journeys of three families who come to live at a low-income apartment complex in Oakland, California, encountering daily life in America’s underclass. Parents raised their children amidst drug dealing, gang violence and prostitution. Yet their worst problem was their landlord, who raised rents even when El Nino rains flooded their units. They join forces to sue their landlord and the film follows their struggle for justice.

ONE IN A BILLION

By Geeta Patel
One in a Billion humanizes the common and quiet struggle of millions of first-generation Americans who struggle with the idea of not marrying within one’s traditional religion and culture. The film takes us inside the world of the Indian-American semi-arranged marriage industry and addresses questions at the heart of the American immigrant experience: is ‘cultural sameness’ a prerequisite to a good marriage, cultural preservation, and true love?

SOMA GIRLS

By Nandini Sikand
Soma Girls is a half-hour documentary short which explores the lives of several girls (ages 6 to 17) who live in a home in Kolkata, India. Their mothers live and work in Kalighat, one of the largest red light districts in the city. Each girl is painfully aware of their individual circumstances but yet they play, dance and study and speak of wanting to grow up, to become independent and find a way to get their mothers out of the trade.

WO AI NI (I LOVE YOU) MOMMY (previously White Stork Hotel)

By Stephanie Wang-Breal
For the past eight years, China has been the leading country for U.S. international adoptions. Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy is a 60-minute documentary about Chinese adopted girls, their American adoptive families and the Chinese political and cultural pressures that led to their abandonment. The characters and events in this story challenge our traditional notions of family, culture and race.

XMAS WITHOUT CHINA

By Tom Xia
News reports slamming China drove proud immigrant Tom Xia to challenge his American neighbors to do Christmas without Chinese goods. The Joneses down the street accept eagerly. What follows is a humorous and surprising intercultural exchange that reveals the misunderstandings, bravado and yearnings of Americans in a world of great change and shifting identities.