Synopsis
American Passages is an collective journey through the United States: a disillusioned Iraq veteran, gay adoptive fathers, black judges, white party animals and a pimp at a casino table in Las Vegas. The extreme contrasts of black and white, rich and poor, winners and losers are often as surprising as the meaning of the constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness in these times of crisis. An epic panorama of America.
A word from Tënk
In American Passages, Ruth Beckermann takes a trip to sound out the “American Dream” on which the nation was built. If, at first sight, the telescopic view doesn’t seem to offer much to see, the director delves deep into the hollows of this country, from its centres to its peripheries, meeting the people who inhabit it, and all this takes place during a time that’s far from trivial – Barack Obama has just been the first Afro-American to be elected president, the country is still ravaged by the subprime crisis and continues to be haunted by the war in Iraq, paid for by the poorest people with their lives and from their own pockets. As a foreigner, Beckermann receives special attention from the people she meets. In this “runaway” fugue-film, she collects their myths, beliefs, dreams and disenchantments with what America claims to offer – freedom and the pursuit of happiness.
Aurélien Marsais
Programmer, producer
