American Made 

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Director:

Sharat Raju

Writer:

Sharat Raju

Stars:

Bernard White, Sakina Jaffrey, Kal Penn

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Bernard White	...	Anant
Sakina Jaffrey	...	Nageena
Kal Penn	...	Jagdesh (as Kalpen Modi)
Te'Amir Sweeney	...	Ranjit (as Te'Amir Yohannes Sweeney)
Haskell V. Anderson III	...	Peter Kenyon
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Terrence Howard	...	Himself - Host / Narrator

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

racism | prejudice | immigrant | father son relationship | family vacation | 

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Taglines:

The road less traveled made all the difference.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site PBS/Independent Lens [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 2003 (USA)

Filming Locations:

North Edwards, California, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Great exercise in short film-making.

Sherat Raju takes a simple story about a roadside breakdown and turns it into an emotionally charged voyage challenging the main character's core beliefs. Anant is a sympathetic, though naive, immigrant Sikh father who believes in the American dream; through his son Rajit, his eyes are opened to some of the prejudices of American society. The film uses humor and interpersonal conflict to build to a powerful moment between father and son at the film's end. Anant's wife and older son are used well to counter balance the conflict between Anant and Rajit, and to increase the tension of the conflict at key moments. It's an economical piece of film-making that packs a powerful punch. Well worth watching.