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Roots in the sand / producer, director, editor, Jayasi Majumdar Hart ; writer, Bill Hart ; Hart Films.
Van Pelt - Video Collection (ask at Circulation Desk) DVD 033 240
Available
- Format:
- Video
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- East Indians--California--History.
- East Indians.
- Panjabis (South Asian people)--California--History.
- Panjabis (South Asian people).
- East Indians--Crimes against--California--History.
- Hindus--California--History.
- Hindus.
- Muslims--California--History.
- Muslims.
- Sikhs--California--History.
- Sikhs.
- Racism--California--History.
- Racism.
- Civil rights--California--History.
- Civil rights.
- Immigrants--California--Social conditions--History--20th century.
- Immigrants.
- Agriculture--California--History.
- Agriculture.
- Agricultural laborers--California--History.
- Agricultural laborers.
- Interracial marriage--California--History.
- Interracial marriage.
- Multiracial families--California--Social life and customs--History--20th century.
- Multiracial families.
- East Indians--Government policy--United States--History.
- Land tenure--Law and legislation--United States--History.
- Land tenure.
- Citizenship--United States--History.
- Citizenship.
- Race relations.
- History.
- Interracial marriage--Law and legislation.
- Land tenure--Law and legislation.
- Government policy.
- Manners and customs.
- Social conditions.
- United States.
- Interracial marriage--Law and legislation--United States--History.
- Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico)--Race relations--History.
- Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico).
- California--Race relations--History.
- California.
- Immigrants--Social conditions.
- North America--Imperial Valley.
- Genre:
- Documentary films.
- Feature films.
- History.
- Nonfiction films.
- Video recordings.
- Physical Description:
- 1 videodisc (57 min.) : sound, color and black and white ; 4 3/4 in.
- DVD video 4 3/4 in.
- Place of Publication:
- San Francisco, CA : Center for Asian American Media, [2006]
- System Details:
- DVD-R, NTSC; full frame (4:3 aspect ratio); monaural.
- digital optical stereo
- NTSC
- video file DVD video
- Summary:
- This documentary is a multi-generational portrait of the close to 5000 Punjabi men who settled in Southern California's Imperial Valley, just north of the Mexican border, to farm California's desert regions a century ago. Seeking to earn enough money to return to their homes in India, these Sikh, Muslim and Hindu immigrants instead encountered not just abysmal wages and working conditions, but also anti-miscegenation and anti-immigration laws that prevented Punjabi women from joining them in the States. They also had to circumvent racism, barriers to land ownership and citizenship and even Anglo farmers seeking vengeance. This documentary details how these pioneers pooled their resources, leased land, and grew their own crops even as they married Mexican wives and started new families. Through the use of found footage, archival and family photographs, personal and public documents, and personal interviews, film-maker Jayasri Hart tells the touching and inspirational story of a community that grew out of a struggle for economic survival in the face of hardship and prejudice. This Punjabi version of the "taming of the Wild West" addresses what media has omitted from history books and the western genre.
- Participant:
- Narrator: David Singh Dhillon ; interviews with: Rosario Perez, Mary Ann and Beatrice (daughters of Phoman and Silveria Singh), Robert Chell, Hector Saikhon, Joe Mallobox, Al Deen, Karmen Chell, Norma and Emma (daughters of Consuelo and Mota Singh), Sarah and Martha (daughters of Atta Mohammed Khan and Benigna Felix), Toga Singh, Mary Jane Mohamed Morgan, Sally and Niaz Jr., Larry Shimamoto, Ysabel Gonzalez Singh and daughter Lilia, Consuelo Arias Singh ; commentary: Joseph Anderholt, Bill Hing (immigration law specialist), Karen Leonard (historian).
- Credits:
- Director of photography, Peter Bonilla ; original music, Bronwen Jones.
- Notes:
- Produced as a documentary in 1998.
- Local Notes:
- Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Maryann B. Sudo CW'63 and John B. Baxter, Jr., American History Fund.
- OCLC:
- 85450413
- Access Restriction:
- This is a recorded DVD and may not play in all DVD players or computer drives.
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