In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy a firestorm erupts when 1,100 Somali refugees relocate to predominately white Lewiston, Maine.In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy a firestorm erupts when 1,100 Somali refugees relocate to predominately white Lewiston, Maine.In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy a firestorm erupts when 1,100 Somali refugees relocate to predominately white Lewiston, Maine.
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Compelling
"The Letter," an accomplished, vibrating, fast-paced documentary by Syrian-American Ziad Hamzeh and crew whose eight cameras rolled for a total of 55 hours, takes a strong viewpoint for the Somalis and for American idealism. While it does give time to the mayor's contention that the city just did not have the resources to accommodate that sudden addition of refugees, it does not allow much, if any, to the eventual economic solution. Rather, this is about racism. In bitter, large doses. The mayor's 3-page "Open Letter to the Community" of Oct. 3, 2002 advises the 1,100 Somali immigrants that they are straining the town's resources and, explicitly, that they should not invite any more of their people to come. The assertions true or not, the blunt and tactless words drew all media attention to this beleagured and completely overwhelmed mayor who appears in the film as possibly sincere but too small in his perceptions to handle the issues involved. As the presence of the White Supremacists looms, he decides to take a vacation in Florida. As Hamzeh's cameras and film editors go to work, we are drawn into the rage of the town's unemployed and fearful. The locals, not used to people of color in the community, vent their frustrations in contorted shouts of anger as rumor and imagination run rampant with invented charges and bizarre statements born of hysteria. Emotional close-ups dominate the film, the twisted faces of hate intertwined with those of reason, so skillfully designed by Hamzeh that absolutely no conventional narration is needed. Racism, and the reactions for and against it, tell their own story.
Proclaims the spokesman of the White Supremacists, "All men are created equal had never been intended to apply to any but White Christians!" as the largest police force in Maine's history converges in the streets to separate Nazi-saluting and Klan contingents from the counter-protesters.
Hamzeh keeps his film boiling, escalating from the mere disturbing to an American nightmare in modern times. Reports a BBC correspondent in Africa as the reports roll in, "Maine's a great place to live, except in Lewiston."
It's a matter of record that even this has passed. Gratifyingly, the film shows, the agony of the event may have been worth it, in the end strengthening the old Maine racial acceptance tradition and exposing the inanities and ignorance of agitators. It is dynamic, focused and compelling.
Proclaims the spokesman of the White Supremacists, "All men are created equal had never been intended to apply to any but White Christians!" as the largest police force in Maine's history converges in the streets to separate Nazi-saluting and Klan contingents from the counter-protesters.
Hamzeh keeps his film boiling, escalating from the mere disturbing to an American nightmare in modern times. Reports a BBC correspondent in Africa as the reports roll in, "Maine's a great place to live, except in Lewiston."
It's a matter of record that even this has passed. Gratifyingly, the film shows, the agony of the event may have been worth it, in the end strengthening the old Maine racial acceptance tradition and exposing the inanities and ignorance of agitators. It is dynamic, focused and compelling.
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- swansswan
- Jul 30, 2004
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Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,479
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $789
- Feb 13, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $1,479
- Runtime1 hour 16 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was The Letter: An American Town and the 'Somali Invasion' (2003) officially released in Canada in English?
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