New Day Films

"In June, 1993, the Golden Venture, a freighter carrying 300 undocumented Chinese passengers, ran aground off New York. The deaths and deportations that followed became a crucial turning point, ushering in a new, repressive era that has led America (once a beacon of liberty) to tighten its borders." -- Container.

Manuela and Ben Aparicio, sister and brother, brought by their parents in search of a better future, arrived in the Fillmore, California from a rural village in Mexico. Twenty years later, they share their stories of dislocation and their determination to succeed. They sensitively portray their struggles to learn English, excel in school, resist efforts to be pushed into vocational programs and be accepted by their American neighbors. Their story,...

A documentary portrait of a Blackfeet (Pikuni) family, the Mombergs, who live on the lower Blackfeet Reservation in Montana near the banks of Badger Creek.. In addition to running a prosperous ranching business, they practice a traditional Blackfeet cultural lifestyle that sustains and nourishes them, including sending their children to a Blackfeet language immersion school, participating in Blackfeet spiritual ceremonies and maintaining a Blackfeet...

She was called "that awful woman" by her neighbors, and "that atheist mother" by newspapers across the country. Her friends stopped returning phone calls rather than risk speaking with her. She was branded a communist, and the Illinois State Legislature nearly outlawed her and her husband from ever working at the state university again. She received up to 200 letters a day, some of the writers claiming they would pray for her; many wishing for much...

It's Elementary features elementary and middle schools where (mainly heterosexual) teachers are challenging the prevailing political climate and its attempt to censor any dialogue in schools about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.. Rather than focusing on the debate between adults, though, the film takes the point of view of the school children, starting as young as first grade. The results are surprising and, as the LA Reader says, "funny,...

A poetic short featuring the voice of an undocumented young Latina woman who was brought to the U.S. as a child. The film introduces viewers to a personal voice on the immigration debate: DACA, the Dream Act, and other immigration reform, speaking about what it's like to grow up and face an uncertain future as a young undocumented person in America.. Because she doesn't want to appear on camera, found footage from American culture illuminates the...

When forced to work at city jobs for well below the prevailing wage and deprived of the chance to go to school, these individuals decide to fight back, demanding programs that will actually help them move off of welfare and into jobs. A Day's Work, A Day's Pay traces the personal and political evolution of its three main characters. Juan Galan successfully organizes WEP workers while battling the demons of his own poverty-stricken childhood. Jackie...

This documentary profiles the late Kanalu Young whose dive into shallow water at age 15 left him quadriplegic. Angry and defiant, he begins to change when he discovers an untold story of Hawaiian history which fires him up to become a leader of his people.. Winner of the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary at the Guam International Film Festival.. "At long last, a portrait of both disability and Native Hawaiian identity at the crux of political...

Is it ever rational to choose death? On Independence Day at Stern Ranch, 77-year-old solar energy pioneer Bob Stern finds out he's seriously ill - possibly dying. Meanwhile, an elderly in-law is dying on artificial life support. Bob decides to cheat that fate and take his own life. His family tries to stop him. Bob sets up a video camera. Daughter Susan Stern (Barbie Nation) explores "rational suicide," the "right-to-die" and the difficult end-of-life...

Breaking Silence is the definitive film on incest and child sexual abuse. Personal stories told by survivors and their families, woven with telling drawings by abused children, give viewers a realistic understanding of how incest destroys trust and bonding, and limits the lives of its victims. Breaking Silence celebrates survivors who are finding the courage to "break silence" and regain their lives..