Back More

Issues in U.S. Immigration

Immigration in film

The Law: O-1 Visas: Extraordinary Ability. The O-1 visa obtainers are those foreign nationals who temporarily enter the United States and who display an exceptional ability in the sciences, education, business, athletics or arts or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry. To qualify, they must be coming to the United States specifically to work in their area or specialty. Currently, there is no annual cap on O visas.

Date: The O-1 visa legislation was drafted in 1990 by former Connecticut congressman Bruce Morrison.

Immigration Issues: Foreign nationals who come to the United States to fulfill their dream in the arts have options available to them depending on their level of skill in their area of expertise. According to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, a temporary worker visas is available to those immigrants or aliens entering the United States for an employment period lasting a fixed period of time, and are not considered permanent or indefinite. In each case of these visa applications, it is required that the prospective employer first files a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An approved petition is required to apply for a work visa.

Significance: For decades, actors and films have brought a focus on immigration issues to the big screen.

Background:

In order for an actor or actress to temporarily enter the United States to perform in the industry, they have to qualify for an O-1 Visa, which is for performers who exhibit extraordinary ability in the areas of arts or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry.

Films

Movies such as Sin Nombre, which means “Nameless,” the 2009 U.S.-Mexican adventure thriller film about a Honduran girl trying to immigrate to the U.S.A, and a boy caught up in the violence of gang life who also needs to escape, use the industry to portray immigration issues. Written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, Sin Nombre was filmed in Spanish and won several awards, including the prizes for directing and cinematography at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

The Godfather, a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy (based on a screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola), has left a long lasting impression on viewers for decade and remains one of the most popular films of all times. The Godfather became a film series consisting of three films, all directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based upon the novel of the same title by Italian American author Mario Puzo. The first two films were written, filmed, and released in the 1970s; however, the third was not released until 1990. The three films follow the fictional Corleone Mafia through the course of the family's history in both the United States and their homeland of Sicily.

The documentary Who Is Dayani Cristal? (2013) earned its title by referring to the tattoos on the body of an anonymous migrant found in the Arizona desert. In the documentary, Gael García Bernal attempts to identify the unknown man and to retrace his journey. The documentary was chosen to be shown at the 2014 Greater Washington Immigration Film Festival (see below).

Actors and Actresses

Whether the film is about immigration or stars immigrants, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger when he first arrived from Austria, the film industry has left a significant motion picture impact on the topic of immigration for decades. Schwarzenegger, an Austrian-born American actor, film producer, activist, businessman, investor, writer, philanthropist, former professional bodybuilder and politician, is a great example of an immigrant coming to the United States to pursue their dream. He moved to the United States in September 1968 at the age of 21 and went on to become a United States citizen in 1983. Since then, he has served two terms as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011.

Actress, model, and philanthropist Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, Transvaal Province, South Africa, on August 7, 1975. After years of struggling to embark her dancing career, she successfully turned to modeling for a short while. After some time she decided to pursue acting instead, but soon learned that her heavy accent could hold her back from roles. Her luck changed in 1994 when she engaged in an argument with a bank teller, who refused to allow her to pull funds from a South African account. Her fit gained the attention of another bank customer, John Crosby, who was a Hollywood manager who represented major talents such as John Hurt and Rene Russo. After watching Theron's interaction with the teller, he immediately offered to sign her and, within months, she made her acting debut in a small role in Children of the Corn III (1995). Other parts followed when she landed roles in 2 Days in the Valley (1996) and That Thing You Do! (1996).

Later, Theron gave her Oscar-winning performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster, and well-reviewed performances in both North Country and Young Adult. In 1999, Theron landed roles in notable films, including The Astronaut's Wife with Johnny Depp and The Cider House Rules with Tobey Maguire. Two years later, in 2001, she reteamed with Reeves in Sweet November. In 2003 she starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in the heist thriller The Italian Job. However, it was her performance in 2003's Monster—a biopic about serial killer Aileen Wuornos—that earned Theron the widespread respect she worked so hard for. She even gained almost 40 pounds for the role, which led to her Academy Award and Golden Globe awards. Theron is also a philanthropist and animal rights activist.

Actress Sandra Oh, the daughter of Korean immigrants, came to the United States from Canadian, where she was born in Nepean, Ontario on July 20, 1971. Oh decided on acting as a career, and in 1993 she graduated from Montreal's National Theatre School of Canada. Her ongoing success stemmed from both the Canadian stage and film roles that later led to her famed roles in Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways. Oh's additional role as Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy earned her a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award, and four Emmy nominations.

Another Grey's Anatomy actor, Kevin McKidd, who plays Dr. Owen Hunt, is a Scottish actor, born on August 9, 1973. He studied engineering at the University of Edinburgh, but left school in order to pursue acting full-time. Prior to Grey's Anatomy, he played the roles of Lucius Vorenus on the HBO/BBC series Rome, his lead role in NBC's short-lived Journeyman and as Tommy in Trainspotting.

SAG/AFTRA

According to SAG-AFTRA, they receive requests for opinion letters on foreign performers' applications for several types of visas that include: O-1, O-2, P-1, P-2 and P-3. In order for a visa to be granted, the application requires qualified petitioners, those who are the performer's representatives, to contact the labor union with jurisdiction over the work at issue, such as in the fields of television and radio broadcasting, sound recordings, and other recorded material, in order to seek an advisory opinion from the union on whether the visa should be granted.

Legislation

According to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, the petition document requirements are as the following:

A U.S. employer should file the petition with the following:

A written advisory opinion, describing the foreign national's ability as follows:
If the petition is based on the foreign national's extraordinary ability in the arts, the consultation must be from a peer group (including labor organizations) in the foreign national's field of endeavor; or a person or persons designated by the group with expertise in the alien's area of ability;
If the petition is based on the foreign national's extraordinary achievements in the motion picture or television industry, separate consultations are required from a labor and a management organization with expertise in the alien's field of endeavor;.
A copy of any written contract between the employer and the foreign national or a summary of the terms of the oral agreement under which the alien will be employed;
Evidence the foreign national has received, or been nominated for, significant national or international awards or prizes in the particular field, such as an Academy Award, Emmy, Grammy or Director's Guild Award, or evidence of at least three of the following:
The foreign national performs or will perform services as a lead or starring participant in productions or events which have a distinguished reputation as evidenced by critical reviews, advertisements, publicity releases, publications, contracts or endorsements;
Achievement of national or international recognition, as shown by critical reviews or other published materials by or about the individual in major newspapers, trade journals, magazines, or other publications;
A record of major commercial or critically acclaimed successes, as shown by such indicators as title, rating or standing in the field, box office receipts, motion picture or television ratings and other occupational achievements reported in trade journals, major newspapers or other publications;
Achievement of significant recognition from organizations, critics, government agencies or other recognized experts in the field in which the alien is engaged, with the testimonials clearly indicating the author's authority, expertise and knowledge of the alien's achievements;
A high salary or other substantial remuneration for services in relation to others in the field, as shown by contracts or other reliable evidence; or if the above standards do not readily apply to the alien's occupation, the petitioner may submit comparable evidence in order to establish the alien's eligibility.

Films Festivals

2014 marks the fifth San Francisco Immigrant Film Festival. Throughout the year, the San Francisco Immigrant Film Festival offers free screenings of films and videos at different venues that are related to immigrant communities. www.sfimmigrantfilmfestival.com.

The Greater Washington Immigration Film Festival is one of the few festivals in the country devoted to films about immigration: 13 works over four days. www.immigrationfilmfest.org

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

"Immigration In Film." Issues in U.S. Immigration, edited by Carl L. Bankston III, Salem Press, 2015. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=IUSI_0115.

APA 7th

Immigration in film. Issues in U.S. Immigration, In C. Bankston III (Ed.), Salem Press, 2015. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=IUSI_0115.

CMOS 17th

"Immigration In Film." Issues in U.S. Immigration, Edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Salem Press, 2015. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=IUSI_0115.

Table of Contents

See also