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Program Guide - True Lives
My American Girls
About the Filmmaker:

Aaron MatthewsAaron Matthews grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in English literature. His award-winning documentaries include the ITVS program A Panther in Africa, which was broadcast on POV in 2004, received a Cine Golden Eagle Award and won best documentary at the St. Louis International Film Festival. His feature-length documentary My American Girls was broadcast on POV and the Discovery Times Channel, won the Best Documentary Award at the San Francisco Latino Film Festival and aired throughout Europe and Latin America. Matthews' previous films Taddo and The Art of the Moment played at numerous festivals around the country and have been broadcast on the History Channel and public television. Matthews’ most recent film, The Paper, aired on PBS's Independent Lens in the fall of 2007.

Matthews has received grants from the Sundance Institute, the Jerome Foundation the New York State Council on the Arts, Latino Public Broadcasting and the Brooklyn Arts Council.

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To buy a copy of this film please contact:

Filmakers Library
124 E. 40th Street, Suite 901
New York, NY 10016

Phone:
(212) 808-4980

Fax:
(212) 808-4983

Email | Website

My American Girls by Aaron Matthews'

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Press Release: PDF | DOC
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PHOTOS

Antonia "Sandra" and Juan "Bautista" Ortiz are hardworking immigrants who live frugally in Brooklyn and dream of retiring to their native Dominican Republic. Their American-born daughters have other ideas and dreams. Welcome to the bittersweet contradictions of contemporary immigrant life as revealed in My American Girls: A Dominican Story, the dramatic portrait of one year in the life of a family as it struggles to sort out the rewards — and costs — of pursuing the American dream.

Aaron Matthews' My American Girls: A Dominican Story airs on public television stations as part of True Lives, a series presented by American Documentary, Inc. and the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA). True Lives is a new programming initiative from the producers of POV

In 1975, Sandra became the first of her family to immigrate to New York from the Dominican Republic seeking better work and pay. She met her husband, Bautista, also a Dominican immigrant, and began bringing her brothers, sisters, and other family members over, until nearly the whole family — except her parents — was ensconced in Brooklyn.

As with so many immigrants, Sandra and Bautista work long hours for relatively low pay by U.S. standards. But it is enough for them to live a decent if not exactly middle-class life in Brooklyn, to give their children the advantages of American citizenship and education, and to return to the Dominican Republic for family reunions bearing big bags of coveted consumer goods. Most importantly, Sandra and Bautista earn enough to be slowly building a dream house for the time they retire and return to their beloved island.

The attachment of the immigrant parents to the homeland, their discipline and work ethic, and their clarity of purpose all contrast with the independent, searching outlooks of their three U.S.-born daughters. It is the story of the daughters that forms the dramatic spine of My American Girls.

There is Monica, the fast-tracking eldest, who excels in college, wants to be an actress, lives on the Upper East Side, and feels ill at ease with Dominican culture. Mayra, the youngest, is a self-described "ghetto kid" who has problems in school. Aida, the middle daughter, is mostly concerned with earning money for the things she wants and has little patience for her parents' frugal ways.

Says filmmaker Matthews: "When you look at the Ortiz family and the struggles they have and the issues they deal with — education, opportunities gained and lost, the role of the mother, the role of women in the family, balancing work and family, and the fulfillment of dreams — you realize that these are issues and struggles and themes that affect us all."

In vivid, vérité detail, My American Girls paints an intimate portrait of the immigrant experience at the end of the 20th century. Ultimately, Sandra realizes the irony in her situation: when she and Bautista leave New York to return to the Dominican Republic, she will be leaving her family once again.

(1 hour)

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View and Download Photos:

Note: Click on an image to open the full size version in a new window. Use File > Save As... to save the image to your hard drive. Photos are for press and private use only. All rights reserved. All uses of the photos must be credited as indicated below. For additional information on rights and clearance isssues, contact communications@pov.org.

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Caption:
The Ortiz Family (clockwise from top left): Sandra, Bautista, Aida, Monica and Mayra Ortiz
Credit:
Aaron Matthews

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Caption:
The Ortiz Family (clockwise from top left) Sandra, Bautista, Aida, Monica and Mayra Ortiz
Credit:
Aaron Matthews

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Caption:
Sandra Ortiz at work
Credit:
Aaron Matthew

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Caption:
Monica Ortiz
Credit:
Aaron Matthew

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Caption:
Filmmaker Aaron Matthews
Credit:
Janine LaRiviere

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True Lives is presented by American Documentary, Inc. and the National Education Telecommunications Assocation.

National Education Telecommunicationns Association

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