“Making it in America” lays aside the vitriol and xenophobia of the American debate about illegal immigration in favor of a simple human story. One woman, who’s never even named, telling her tale of crossing the border to escape the everyday threat of violence in favor of stability and opportunity.
Directed by Joris Debeij as part of the IamLosAngeles.com project, “Making it” is essentially a one-woman soliloquy about why she came her, what her life is like, and her dreams for her children. We follow her around and see through her eyes.
She works as a seamstress in the clothing industry, in a setting many would describe as a sweatshop. But the woman is grateful for the chance to work hard. She muses about her kids one day working for the same company, American Apparel – but as a designer or executive.
“The fact that I’m not afraid of poverty doesn’t mean that I’m happy being poor, but I accept it, which his different,” she says.
Just nine minutes long, this doc is marked by terrific craftsmanship and photography. Obviously it can’t tell the whole of the immigration debate, and isn’t trying to. Her is, simply, a life in snapshot.