Description:

This documentary looks at the process of granting political asylum to the United States. Who deserves it? Who gets it? Who decides? Entering the closed corridors of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) the filmmakers uncover a world where American ideals about human rights collide with the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth. Filmmakers Robertson and Camerini interview the asylum officers, lawyers, translators, economic migrants, and refugees looking for protection — all focused on the confidential interviews that are at the heart of the asylum process and for some, a matter of life or death.


Biography:

Michael Camerini has directed, shot and produced films dealing with topics such as women’s rights in India (Dadi’s Family, 1981 and Kamala and Raji, 1990), the life and art of the Mexican painter Diego Rivera (The Frescoes of Diego Rivera, 1987), and the struggle to balance religious and cultural identity with mainstream values (The United States in Born Again, 1988 and The Buddha in LA, 1993). Mr. Camerini was senior producer of the series Local Heroes, Global Change, 1990. Since 1993, he and Shari Robertson have completed These Girls are Missing, Tashilham and Well-Founded Fear through their independent production company The Epidovros Project.

Trained in anthropology and ethnographic film, Shari Robertson worked with Camerini on These Girls Are Missing in 1996 about the culture, gender roles and education of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Tashilham, on the work of New York artist Irving Kriesberg’s 32-part dyptych before her work on Well-Founded Fear. Ms. Robertson’s other films include Temple Uder Siege (1988), Inside the Khmer Rouge (1990) and We Ain’t Winnin’ (1992) about domestic politics and the American drug war in Peru.


Contact Information:

The Epidavros Project
141 W28 Street #6B
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 594-2127
Fax: (212) 594-0101
E-mail: mcsr@pipeline.com
URL: www.wellfoundedfear.org