Concentric Media

A DARING JOURNEY
From Immigration to Education

To download trailer, click vimeo in the lower right-hand corner above.
At vimeo A DARING JOURNEY webpage
click Download button beneath the trailer description.
Select HD .MP4 file or SD .MP4 file to download.

Full-length film (26 mins. 4 secs.) Vimeo Link
Full-length Spanish-version film (27 mins. 10 secs.) Vimeo Link
Full script in English and Spanish for A DARING JOURNEY
pdf or Word doc
Click here to download A DARING JOURNEY: From Immigration to Education
Trailer (1:39)
Website: aDaringJourneyFilm.org
Spanish Webpage of A DARING JOURNEY

Dorothy's Making of

I sometimes shop for fruits - like mangos and papayas - at a corner market run by a Mexican-American family. One day Ruben Sr., the owner, greeted me with a smile and said, "My son, Ruben Jr., is going to college!" I congratulated him, then asked, "Where is he going?." Ruben Sr. said, "Vassar." What a small world it is! I responded by sharing with him that our daughter went to Vassar. I knew then and there that this family's story would make an interesting documentary. Ruben Sr. and his wife, Janet, risked their lives to cross the border from Mexico. They arrived with nothing and now their son was off to college. One of their dreams was for their children to get a better education than they had had in Mexico. Over the next five years, as I documented Ruben Jr.'s journey from high school through college, I met Luis and Sergio, two undocumented young men. What impressed me about all of these people was that they share an appreciation for the importance of education in building a better life.

Credits

Director/Producer: Dorothy Fadiman
Producer/Director of Photography/Editor:
Owen Tomlins
Additional Editing: Marlo McKenzie
Assistant Editor: Laura Wigod
Research: Dixie Lopez
Production Coordinator: K. Ushiba
English version narrated by Peter Coyote
Spanish version narrated by María Marroquín
Music: Erika Luckett

Transcription

Full script in English and Spanish for A DARING JOURNEY
pdf or Word doc

Synopsis

A DARING JOURNEY: From Immigration to Education follows three stories about two individuals and a couple who risked their lives to cross the border from Mexico to the United States. The film begins with each giving a vivid description of the journey and then explores their struggles to earn a living in the shadows of the U.S. immigration system. We follow their stories as they pursue their dreams. They all seek higher education. Ruben Sr. and his wife, Janet, who both had minimal education in Mexico, support their son Ruben Jr. as he prepares for college. After studying at a high school that serves students historically underrepresented in higher education, Ruben Jr. then goes on to a college recognized for its efforts to recruit and support first generation, low-income high potential students. These three stories present a microcosm of the realities that many immigrants experience once they arrive in the United States: working hard to survive without legal status and then pursuing education so that they and their children are better able to address the challenges in their futures with better tools and more options.