Well-Founded Fear (2000)

Directors:

Michael Camerini
Shari Robertson

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Political asylum in the US: who deserves it? who gets it? who decides?

Plot:

This documentary film takes us to an in-depth look at the asylum process of the federal U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)...

Plot Keywords:

Immigration | Political Asylum | Legal Case Studies

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Directed by
Michael Camerini
Shari Robertson

Produced by
Rachel Boynton	....	associate producer
Michael Camerini	....	producer
Kathy Conkwright	....	senior associate producer
Michael Feinberg	....	associate producer
Paula Hacopian	....	senior associate producer
Bronwyn Jones	....	associate producer
Shari Robertson	....	producer
Lajwanti Waghray	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Mark Suozzo		(music composed and conducted by)

Cinematography by
Michael Camerini

Film Editing by
Karen Schmeer

Sound Department
John Dildine	....	sound
Tom Efinger	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Amanda Cole	....	camera assistant
Karine Hrechdakian	....	camera assistant
Karl Schurman	....	lighting consultant

Editorial Department
Christopher Osborn	....	additional editor
Suzanne Pancrazi	....	assistant editor
Noëlle Penraat	....	negative cut

Other crew
Marc Ameruso	....	production assistant
Brett Fredrick	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Epidavros Project, The

Distributors

• Epidavros Project, The (2000) (USA) (all media)
• P.O.V. (2000) (USA) (TV)
• Ro*co Films International (2000) (Non-USA) (DVD)
• Roco Films (2000) (Non-USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• DuArt  color
• Dig-It Audio  audio post facility
• Level Design Group  main title sequence and epilogue
• Ford Foundation, The  support
• Open Society Institute  support
• John D. & Catherine MacArthur Foundation, The  support
• Overbrook Foundation, The  support
• Eastman Kodak Company  support

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Chinese | Albanian

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Lyndhurst, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Epidavros Project, The

Touching documentary involving a federal agency

This is a touching documentary about the asylum process within the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). In this film, we see people who are struggling with political or religious persecutions in their home countries, and are trying to seek refuge in the United States, a land of opportunity and freedom for them. Each person's lives is depicted in depth in this film, with them stating their own reasons to "escape" to the United States as they appear in an interview before an asylum officer at the INS. Some applicants try to overstep their authority with the officer, trying to convince them that they are entitled to stay in the U.S., making up stories during the interview process. One woman overstepped her bounce so much that the officer had to say, "I'm conducting the interview here." When officers see these kind of reactions by the applicants, they do not make a final decision and refers them to the Immigration Judge for a decision. But, those people who are truthful can be known to the officer right away. You can sense it in their physical reactions-their nervousness, their fear, their sense of sorrow and their longing desires. In addition, their stories, evidence and correspondence are all documented in files for the officer to review. At least two people depicted in this film, who were tortured in their countries because of their beliefs, were immediately granted status in the United States. Their reactions of relief and gladness were heartwarming.

Overall, a very detailed and emotional film that deals with the lives of people wanting to seek a better life in the United States, and a film that deals with the asylum process of the INS. Though the INS can be sometimes seen as bureaucratic and scary, it can be seen as a fodder of hope and goodness in this film. I had the pleasure of meeting the directors of this film, Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson, back in 2002 when they were filming a documentary at the Sacramento INS office involving the naturalization process. I was privileged to be part of the film.

Grade A