Qin Lee, Abdirahman Abdi and Braulio Tellez Vilches, screened their New Immigrant and Refugee Visions (NIRV) films for 90 Au Pairs at MassArt in Boston.
NIRV is a collection of ten documentary films by and about immigrants. These short films provide a unique insiders’ perspective on the integration challenges immigrants face and the contributions they make to our culture, economy and social fabric. The filmmakers made these short films to engage communities in dialogue about immigrants and immigration in the United States.
Au Pairs come from all over the world. They are granted special temporary work visas to live with families across the United States and help with childcare. The US State Department, that administers the program, requires Au Pairs to participate in 80 hours of educational programs.
This is the third year that CSFilm has contributed to the Au Pairs’ educational programs. This year, Chinese immigrant Qin Lee shared her film, Campaign for a New American, about the daughter of Indian immigrants campaigning to be elected to city council. If elected she would be the first woman of color in a working class town that has always been a magnet for immigrants. Somali refugee Abdirahman Abdi screened his film Worlds Apart at Home, about a Somali refugee family negotiating tensions between parents and teenagers – as the young try to fit into and enjoy American culture and the old try to hold on to their Somali traditions. Cuban refugee Braulio Tellez Vilches presented Lift with Your Heart, about Haitian choreographer Jean Appolon who struggled for years to find a sense of belonging in his native Haiti and his adopted home in the United States.
Qin and Braulio lead an engaging discussion about the issues raised by the films. The Au Pairs talked about the many themes that resonated with their experiences as visitors to the United States. For some it was a revelation that people from other countries of origin were facing challenges like their own.
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