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Democracy and Its Discontents
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1h 31m
Directed by Alexandra Shiva • Documentary • 2018 • 91 minutes
From acclaimed filmmaker Alexandra Shiva comes the urgent and beautiful story of a community of Syrian immigrants who are resettled in Baltimore in the US. Upon their arrival, they have eight months to find jobs, learn English, and become self-sufficient, all while they are still processing the upheaval of adjusting to a new country and dealing with the aftermath of the horrors that they endured in Syria. And then right in the middle of this process, President Trump issues his travel ban on all refugees for Muslim-majority countries, and overnight their lives (and safety) become even more perilous than they could have imagined. With incredible empathy, director Shiva highlights the inherent decency of a displaced community desperate for help within a country increasingly hostile to them.
"Affecting...Addresses early relief, initial confusion, fluctuating states of peace and homesick despair, and the small joys that come with knowing one can adapt." —Los Angeles Times
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