0 
My American Girls: A Dominican Story
| Length: | 62 min |
| Released: | 2001 |
Buy Online Streaming
My American Girls is a vivid portrayal of a year in the life of the Ortiz family—hard working Dominican immigrants who live frugally in Brooklyn and dream of retiring one day in their native country. But their American-born daughters have different ideas and aspirations. These bittersweet contradictions propel the film as the family attempts sort out the rewards and costs of pursuing the American dream.
The family matriarch, Sandra, grew up in the Dominican Republic with no electricity or running water along with fourteen siblings. She came to Brooklyn in 1975 alone, seeking better work. She and her husband Bautista hold two jobs each as hospital cleaners. Despite their long hours and relatively low pay, they provide their children with a comfortable lifestyle and the advantages of an American education.
Their eldest daughter, twenty-one-year-old Monica, is an achiever who attends an Ivy League college. She has an American boyfriend and has separated herself from the Dominican community, but maintains close family ties. Sixteen-year-old Aida is a typical middle child, mitigating the demands of the streets and the ambitions of her parents. The youngest daughter, fourteen-year-old Mayra, is a self-proclaimed “ghetto” kid, failing in school and interested only in her friends.
Sandra's five-story house is filled with members of the extended family—grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and infants. Sandra struggles to meet the needs of her family members and come to terms with the fact that fulfilling her retirement dream will mean leaving her family once again.
The family matriarch, Sandra, grew up in the Dominican Republic with no electricity or running water along with fourteen siblings. She came to Brooklyn in 1975 alone, seeking better work. She and her husband Bautista hold two jobs each as hospital cleaners. Despite their long hours and relatively low pay, they provide their children with a comfortable lifestyle and the advantages of an American education.
Their eldest daughter, twenty-one-year-old Monica, is an achiever who attends an Ivy League college. She has an American boyfriend and has separated herself from the Dominican community, but maintains close family ties. Sixteen-year-old Aida is a typical middle child, mitigating the demands of the streets and the ambitions of her parents. The youngest daughter, fourteen-year-old Mayra, is a self-proclaimed “ghetto” kid, failing in school and interested only in her friends.
Sandra's five-story house is filled with members of the extended family—grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and infants. Sandra struggles to meet the needs of her family members and come to terms with the fact that fulfilling her retirement dream will mean leaving her family once again.
"My American Girls represents a nation recast by the largest wave of immigration in nearly a century [and] stands as one of the strikingly few full length profiles of Dominican immigrants in any genre."
‒Samuel G. Freedman, New York Times
"A heart warming story of bicultural vitality."
‒Chicago Times
"Intense and beautiful portrait."
‒La Raza
‒Samuel G. Freedman, New York Times
"A heart warming story of bicultural vitality."
‒Chicago Times
"Intense and beautiful portrait."
‒La Raza
Human Rights Watch Film Festival, 2001
Taos Talking Picture Film Festival, 2001
Chicago Latino Film Festival, 2001
New York Latino Film Festival, 2001
Best Documentary, San Francisco Latino Film Festival, 2001
Taos Talking Picture Film Festival, 2001
Chicago Latino Film Festival, 2001
New York Latino Film Festival, 2001
Best Documentary, San Francisco Latino Film Festival, 2001
