Of Cows and People

Although, according to the estimates, Latinos will make up the largest ethnic group in the United States by the year 2050, they have the lowest level of education of all groups and a large number of them live below the poverty line. Nuyorican Dream, filmed in direct cinema style, follows three generations of Puerto Ricans within one family, living in New York since 1968. When she was eighteen, the mother escaped the poor countryside, but did not fare much better in New York. Only one son has managed to climb out of the ghetto and study at a university. His sisters are struggling with drug addiction and became pregnant as teenagers, and his brother has spent half his life in prison. His mother earns some money by selling second-hand clothes in the street. Laurie Collyer films them mainly at home: one sister lazes on the sofa, and mother and son have an argument, while dreaming of a better life. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)