IDS 250: Narratives of Migration: Films

Describes the history of Spain from 711 to 1492, a period of Arab domination and intellectual ferment.

Documents the rise and growth of Islam throughout the world, from the birth of Prophet Muhammad in the 6th century through the peak of the Ottoman Empire 1000 years later.

Traces the rise and fall of Islam in the West, describing the transformation of Europe from the 8th to 15th centuries through a wealth of developments in various fields, public infrastructure and societal concepts.

Looks at remnants of what was once the great Jewish civilization in Spain: the artifacts, which were Christianized or destroyed; and the people, many of whom continued to practice elements of the religion and folklore of Judaism and for most of whom the memory of Jewishness has been extinguished.

The Border Wall is a new documentary from filmmaker Wayne Ewing about the attempt by the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Michael Chertoff to erect 670 miles of walls along the 2000 mile southern border of the United States in the waning days of the Bush administration.

Tells the story of a migrant who found himself in the deadly stretch of the Sonora Desert known as "the corridor of death," and shows how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration.

"Based on over 700 interviews in rural Mexican towns where about half the population has left to work in the United States, [this film] asks why so many Mexicans come to the U.S. and what happens to the families and communities they leave behind.

After the Guatemalan army destroys their village and family, two Mayan Indian peasants, Enrique and Rosa, a teenage brother and sister, who barely escaped the massacre, decide they must flee to United States.

A border guard faces corruption in his department when the infant of a poor Mexican girl is kidnapped.

Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Andres sets out on a journey to cross the US border in search of his family. After various failed attempts he settles down in Tijuana...

In 1528 a Spanish expedition founders off the coast of Florida. 600 lives are lost. One survivor, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, roams across the American continent searching for his Spanish comrades....