States of Migration Film Series
The Hemispheric Institute at New York University presented the States of Migration Film Series in partnership with Hemispheric Encounters from November 12 – December 13, 2021.
Inequalities and violence across the Americas continue to propel people from their lands in search of safety in new homes and foreign countries. In that journey toward asylum, however, migrants and refugees face increasingly punitive state regimes. Instead of welcome, they experience entrapment, detention, and deportation. Nation-states from Chile to Canada target migrants: they restrict mobility, terrorize communities, and violate human rights. Once settled in a new country, migrants not only face state discipline, but must confront strident xenophobia and racism in their communities. Many are forced once again to undertake a perilous journey toward the promise of a better home.
This series of powerful short and feature films, curated by the Hemispheric Institute, seeks to center stories of migration and expulsion from the Americas. These are tales of harrowing journeys, desperate measures, deep solidarities, and courageous political action. Filmmakers reveal not only the degradations perpetrated by nation-states and their border regimes, but also the tenacity of people who imagine life beyond their reality.
