HIDS 2020
Student/Family Programming
We have curated lists of films for our younger audiences that are appropriate for Elementary/Middle and High School students. To view our full festival slate, click here.
Elementary/Middle School films
Frank and Kass
“FRANK treks back home to his parents after recently being laid off with his young daughter KASS in tow. With their lives packed in a pickup truck, they drive across the California desert, hoping to make it to their destination in one piece.”
Your Hands in My Hair
“Nitin, a young boy decides to cut his shoulder-length hair to impress his friend Samantha.”
Refugee Kids: One Small School Takes on the World
“Refugee Kids: One Small School Takes On the World is a short documentary that follows students at a New York City summer program for children seeking asylum from the world’s most volatile conflicts. The film presents an intimate, emotionally gripping account of the students’ stories of escaping war and conflict and resettling in America, chronicling their triumphs and setbacks as their lives unfold over the course of one formative summer. Refugee Kids humanizes complex geopolitics and depict the challenges and urgency of immigration to America in an increasingly dangerous – and interconnected – world.”
Password: distantshores
Home: Joselyn's Story
“A film about home, love, and motherhood, "Home: Joselyn's Story" is the story of Joselyn, who was brought to the United States from Honduras by her mother when she was 9 years old. As a mother now, she reflects on the decision her mother made for her, risking everything to give her daughter a better life.
This short film was produced during The Representation Project's 2019 Summer Youth Media Academy in Oakland, California. The first-time filmmaking team was made up of Isabel Lozano, Leonie Sarath, Griselda Martinez, Susana Torres & Nattaly Gomez.”
High School films
Maineland
“Filmed over three years in China and the U.S., MAINELAND is a multi-layered coming-of-age tale that follows two teenagers of China’s wealthy elite as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar rural Maine. Part of the enormous wave of "parachute students" from China enrolling in U.S. private schools, bubbly, fun-loving Stella and introspective Harry come seeking a Western-style education, escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. Worlds collide as Stella and Harry’s fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity. They ruminate on their experiences of alienation, culture clash, and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country.”
Finding Dohi
“FINDING DOHI is an intimate portrait of a woman separated by culture, language, and thousands of miles from a family she has never met. Daphne, a 3rd generation Japanese-American, holds on to letters sent to her mother long ago. The contents of the letters are a mystery, as they are written in Japanese - and she cannot read or understand the language. Thus begins her decades-long pursuit to fill in the scant details she knows about her Grandfather Dohi, who immigrated to Hawai'i from a rural Japanese village in 1891.
Documented by her daughter, their journey from Hawai‘i to Japan explores the themes of language and culture loss, identity, honoring ancestors, and reconnection, and reminds us that some family bonds cannot be broken no matter the time or distance.”
Fighting for Family
“Almost two decades ago, Chuh and Rex, refugees from the indigenous tribes of Vietnam, fell in love and started a family in North Carolina. In 2017, the unthinkable happened. Chuh was deported to Vietnam, leaving Rex and their four daughters behind in the U.S. Chuh works on adjusting to life in Vietnam, while Rex resiliently balances working, raising her children, and maintaining her long-distance relationship. The family and their communities mobilize to fight for Chuh’s return to the U.S.”
Bulls and Saints
“Bulls and Saints is a lyrical documentary short based on a love letter written by an immigrant bull rider to his wife back home in Mexico.”
Dawat
“Dawat is the story of a young Bengali-American woman struggling against her family's expectations to follow her dreams. Told over the course of a classic Bengali family dinner party, Dawat explores the intergenerational relationship between a mother and her daughter as they come to terms with their pride and traditions in the face of a huge decision.”
(t)here
“Rhea, a young Indian girl living in the US, is struggling to make a decision that impacts her life and dreams - whether to stay in the US or go back to India due to visa circumstances - when a chance encounter with an immigrant grocery store manager leads to an unexpected bond between the two.”