The 15 Best Movies About the Immigrant Experience According to IndieWire

The immigrant experience, whether it be in depictions of dangerous crossings or the strife of settling in a new place far from what is known, has long been examined by filmmakers. Some have done so as a way of tracing their own family history, like in the case of Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather: Part II," or as a form of understanding someone else's plight in the instance of the animated documentary "Flee." While no one journey is the same as another, these types of stories are united in their effort to depict the full complexities of what it means to uproot oneself and start fresh in an often far off place you've never been. What motivates this kind of action? Why would a person take that risk? Often it has to do with a tragic circumstance, such as war or genocide, but on a more fundamental level, the characters in these films draw on the same thing they'd be drawing on in their homeland if they could: Hope.