Human Rights Watch International Film Festival - New York

My American Girls: A Dominican Story (NY Premiere)
Aaron Matthews - US - 2000 - 62m - video - documentary
In English and Spanish with English subtitles

A film which chronicles the everyday troubles and triumphs of the Ortiz family - a Dominican immigrant family residing in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Mayra, Aida, and Monica are three daughters, each traveling down different roads in this country. Over the course of a year and a half, Sandra - their mother - struggles to keep Mayra, the self-proclaimed "ghetto kid," in school and on the right track. At the same time, Monica - an Ivy League scholar and athlete, pursues her dream of becoming an actor and grapples with the reality of growing farther away from her family. And Aida, the "typical middle child," tries to find her way between the world of the street and middle class American values. An intimate portrait of an extraordinary family, MY AMERICAN GIRLS portrays the hopes and frustrations of the Ortizes - five Dominicans dealing with the benefits and the drawbacks of coming to America.

Preceded by:
RELOU
Fanta Regina Necro - France - 2000 - 5m - video - drama
In French with English subtitles
A story of mistaken identity on a city bus.
and PIMPRENELLE
Yamina Benguigui - France - 2000 - 5m - video - drama
In French with English subtitles
A fairy story with a modern twist.
Courtesy of Little Bear Productions
With the support of Cultural Services of the French Embassy, New York

Co-presented by the New York International Latino Film Festival

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