"Grapes of Wrath" Companion books and more!
Film and Video
- "a.k.a. Don Bonus"
Directed by Spencer Nakasako and Sokly Ny Produced by Spencer Nakasako
1995, 55 minutes, documentary, with study guide"Strong filmic 'diary' ... An urban reality check both perilous and engaging."
-- Variety" ... filmed by a student very much on the edge academically, but self-revealing, sensitive and able to laugh at himself. It is a perfect antidote to simplistic 'model minority' stereotypes about Asian students ... "
-- Gary Orfield, Harvard UniversityAfter escaping the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the Ny family became one of thousands of refugees faced with resettlement in the U.S. Their lives unfold through the lens of this stirring video diary. As 18-year-old Sokly Ny (Don Bonus) struggles to graduate from high school, his family is harassed in the housing projects, his eldest brother cannot fill a dead father's shoes and his youngest brother ends up in a youth prison. Sokly shares these experiences, his personal feelings and his hopes as the year progresses. Ultimately, "a.k.a. Don Bonus" becomes a story of triumph and survival from the perspective of one of America's newest arrivals.
- Juror's Choice Award, Charlotte Film and Video Festival First Place, Visions du Reel, Nyon, Switzerland Golden Gate Award, Best Bay Area Documentary, San Francisco International Film Festival Special Award, National Educational Media Network National PBS Broadcast, POV series
- NOS telecast, The Netherlands
- "And the Earth Did Not Swallow Him"
Directed by Severo Perez
Distributed by Facets Video, Kino on Video
1994, 1 hour 39 minutes
In this critically acclaimed adaptation of Tomas Rivera's semi-autobiographical 1971 novella, the 12-year-old son of migrant Mexican-American farm workers joins his family on their annual trek from Texas through the Midwest during harvest season. Along the way, he and his family endure hardships that are ultimately tempered by their strong familial bonds. - "Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life"
Directed by Meg Patridge
Distributed by Pacific Pictures,
186 Tree Farm, Lopez, WA 98261
(1-800-886-3135)
1994, 48 minutes
As a member of Lange's extended family, Meg Patridge has known Lange and her children, grandchildren and close friends. This film captures the dynamics between adversity and human dignity, viewed through the lens of one of AmericaÕs most eloquent photographers. This documentary brings to life five decades of American history with photographs and insights by Lange, revealing her passion for her work and her commitment to record the rapidly changing face of the 20th century. The film sets Lange's evocative photographs and recorded conversations against contemporary interviews with family and colleagues, creating an intimate portrait of this extraordinary and complex photographer. - "Down an Old Road: The Poetic Life of Wilma McDaniel"
Directed and produced by Chris Simon
To order the film, contact Chris Simon, P.O. Box 211, Moab, UT 84522; (435)259-4176; csimon@lasal.net
34 minutes
Chris Simon has made a film on the life and poetry of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, a poet who came to California from Oklahoma as part of the Dust Bowl migration. Of German, Irish and Cherokee extraction, McDaniel made the journey to California's "Pastures of Plenty" with her own family, sharecroppers in 1930s Oklahoma. She has spent a lifetime in working America, from Dustbowl farms to California vineyards and small Valley towns."I wish there were more poets like Wilma McDaniel. One wants to return to her book again and again. Little slices of real truth, to be long savored."
-- Pete Seeger"McDaniel stamps her poems with an undeniable signature of simplicity of diction combined with power of suggestion."
-- Laurel Speer "McDaniel, a farm worker for all her long life, writes with full knowledge of its bitterness and hardship, but also with love and humor."
-- Noel Peattie "'Down an Old Road' is a multifacted jewel of a film."
-- Mary Mackey"I wish there were more poets like Wilma McDaniel...Little slices of real truth, to be long savored."
-- Pete Seger - "The Fight in the Fields."
Public Broadcasting Service, 1997.
This documentary traces the history of the United Farm Workers and the life of its founder Cesar Chavez, and includes newsreel footage of the Delano grape boycott, Chavez's fasts and more. - "El Norte"
Directed byGregory Nava
Distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
2 hours 21 minutes
1984
Two young Indians, a brother and sister, travel from their remote Guatemalan village to the "promised land" of the north -- Los Angeles. Nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay. - "The Grapes of Wrath."
Fox Home Entertainment, 1999.
The 1940 film directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda as Tom Joad.