Families and Immigration Struggles

Bruce Von Stiers

There is much talk about illegal or undocumented immigrants. It seems that most of the focus is on undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central and South America. But there are undocumented people from a bunch of countries that come to the U.S.

There is a short documentary film that deals with a family who has certain members who came to the U.S. illegally. And the distance between the members and fear of being caught and deported. The film is titled Under One Sky.

The film details the struggle that the family has had. Not only are certain members of the family undocumented, the distance between their native country and relatives there seem to leave a void. The film focuses on one woman who is interviewed. Her family is from China and Hong Kong. She speaks in Chinese throughout the film, so there are English subtitles for everything she is saying.

The woman came to the U.S. from Hong Kong in 2017. Her son and her parents are in China. She has a daughter and an older sister who are both in the U.S. Her husband is also in the U.S. but has remarried. Her older brother lived in the U.S. but had passed away the year before.

The brother was undocumented. He'd come to the U.S. when she was a teenager, and they hadn't seen each other for twenty years. But when she came to the U.S., they reunited and had a good relationship.

It seems that the brother's biggest regret was not being able to see his kid and being undocumented. And that he'd not seen his parents in over twenty years.

The woman talks about how as her children and other family members are safe, she can move forward for another day. But she misses her parents and wishes they were close by so she could take care of them.

The film has the woman talking about all of the emotions she feels going from day to day. She has a partner who is there for her to help when she is struggling emotionally.

Lai Na Cheng was the director of the film. She has stated that the film is intended to be a love letter to her family, detailing how the struggles of families are driven apart by legalities, physical distances and the uncertainties of life. And that the undocumented family members might be deported. Cheng herself came to the U.S. from Hong Kong and is a full-time film student at California State-Northridge.

Aleks Arsin was the post producer. An immigrant himself, from Austria, he worked on the musical comedy The Girl Who Left Home. Dakota Marshall was the film's editor. Yorick Moran helped out as a gaffer for the film. And Big Rice Music provided the music for the film.

Under One Sky is a good way to show how families struggle who have both legal and undocumented family members. And that a void exists due to that struggle and not being able be close to family members who still live in other countries.

Under One Sky is a finalist in this year's Santa Clarita International Film Festival.

Back to the BVS Reviews Main Menu

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _

© 2024 Bruce E Von Stiers