Farmingville

Plot Summary

Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, P.O.V. presents Farmingville, a provocative, complex, and emotionally charged look into the ongoing nationwide controversy surrounding a suburban community, its ever-expanding population of illegal immigrants, and the shockingly hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers. In the late 1990s, some 1,500 Mexican workers moved to the leafy, middle-class town of Farmingville, population 15,000. In some ways, it is a familiar American story: an influx of illegal immigrants crossing the border from Mexico to do work the locals won't; rising tensions with the Anglo population; charges and counter-charges of lawlessness and racism; protest marches, unity rallies and internet campaigns--then vicious hate crimes that tear the community apart. But this isn't the story of a California, Texas or other Southwestern city. It's the endlessly enthralling tale of Farmingville, New York, on Long Island. Sharply and intimately directed by Catherine Tambini and Carlos Sandoval, who moved to Farmingville after the tumultuous clash catapulted the town into national headlines, Farmingville is an astounding glimpse into an issue that continues to anger, frighten and confuse us.