States of America
“OUT OF MANY, ONE.”
In the United States, you may have been born in one state or even in a different country. You may go to school or work in another community, and then move somewhere else by choice or circumstance. What is it that ties us to these places and makes us call them home? And how does our state affect who we are and how we identify ourselves? In a time where identity, unity and belonging are under scrutiny, STATES OF AMERICA asks these questions in lyrical short documentaries. Featuring everyday people as distinct as the physical and cultural landscapes they call home, these films begin to portray a mosaic of America's famously emerging identity.
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In the United States, you may have been born in one state or even in a different country. You may go to school or work in another community, and then move somewhere else by choice or circumstance. What is it that ties us to these places and makes us call them home? And how does our state affect who we are and how we identify ourselves?
1.Connecticut
07-12-20205mAs a young, single mother of three, Joyce Thomas moved from St. Vincent to the United States after reading a newspaper ad for housekeeping jobs. She eventually ended up in Connecti...
2.Massachusetts
08-12-20204mDoug is in his freshman year at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A native Californian, he is learning to adapt to the east coast as he settles in to the rigors of Iv...
3.Maryland
09-12-20205mServing a life sentence at 17-years-old, Chris Wilson sat down and wrote out what he called his “master plan” of all the things he believed he could do in his life, then got to wor...
4.New Hampshire
10-12-20204mLisa Hansen grew up in Kentucky and says she has the accent to prove it. Eleven years ago, she moved to New Hampshire and planted roots with her family to stay for the long haul. E...
5.Virginia
11-12-20205mAs a young quadriplegic law school graduate, living in a location with strong public transportation accessibility options was a must for Daniel Leslie. Wheelchair accessible taxis...
6.New York
12-12-20205mKaren Eberle-McCarthy loves the Hudson River Valley community she has lived in for many years. A passionate member of this New York neighborhood, she teaches English to Spanish spe...
7.North Carolina
13-12-20205mGrowing up in a shack in the Jim Crow South, Paul Gunter dreamed of someday owning his own home. Although his dream came true at the age of 20, he soon had to move from North Carol...
8.Rhode Island
14-12-20205mA native of Rhode Island, Jack Welch has called the Ocean State his home for 82 years. The former teacher and principal is now a Meals on Wheels volunteer, a tour guide with the Pr...
9.Vermont
15-12-20204mGrowing up in a military family, Kelly Ault lived in twelve different states as a child. After college she was anxious to put roots down and chose a rural community in Vermont to s...
10.Indiana
16-12-20205mBorn and bred Hoosier Randy Evans explains the value he places on his sense of belonging including his connection to those that have gone before. From a rather surprising discovery...
11.Illinois
17-12-20205mThirteen years ago, after finishing college in Minnesota, returning home to Texas, and then volunteering in Mexico, Nathan Tolzmann felt adrift. He set out to ride his bike across...
12.Maine
18-12-20205mNancy 3. Hoffman curates the world's only Umbrella Cover Museum on an island off the coast of Maine. Here, Nancy embraces a community that welcomes eccentricity and self-reliance a...
13.Missouri
19-12-20205mSarah Smith's ancestors helped found the state of Missouri, so she has always felt strong roots connecting her to the land that was once home to frontier women and men. After a lif...
14.Iowa
20-12-20205mSince apprenticing for a retired fiddler after college, Beth Rotto has grown into a cultural staple within her community in Iowa. She works at the Co-op by day, fronts her folk ban...
15.Wisconsin
21-12-20205mBorn in a refugee camp in Thailand, Xong Xiong moved to Wisconsin after her family couldn't return to Laos following the Vietnam War. She grew up as part of an influx of twice disl...
16.Minnesota
22-12-20205mLiving on an island in the Mississippi River has always drawn Kathy Christenson to seek inspiration and peace from its banks. Despite thinking adulthood would take her far from her...
17.Oregon
23-12-20205mI-Shüan Warr grew up with a unique name in a multicultural family in a mostly white Tennessee suburb. Her mom is from Taiwan, her dad is from California, her husband is from Utah,...
18.West Virginia
24-12-20205mThough Hanna Sizemore grew up wandering the mountains of West Virginia, her passion for understanding a larger universe took her to Silicon Valley, NASA, and eventually back to her...
19.Nevada
25-12-20206mClay Greenland's desire to help others as a paramedic drove his life but his son's suicide prompted a retreat from Tennessee to a remote corner of the Nevada desert. Now Clay has g...
20.Nebraska
26-12-20205mDereck Higgins has vivid memories of being harassed and attacked as a child. As an adult, he has managed the isolation and suspicion he is dealt by his near all-white surroundings...
21.Montana
27-12-20205mIt was the past that brought Dave Varricchio to present-day Montana. Over the past 20 years, paleontology work in Big Sky Country’s wilderness has provided him with unique insight...
22.Washington
28-12-20205mMohinder Sangha moved to Northwest Washington in 1983, becoming the first Sikh person to start berry farming in the region. Since then Mohinder's farm has thrived, and with his ser...
23.Idaho
29-12-20205mMexico-born Evaristo Mireles moved to Idaho decades ago as a teenager searching for a job. He has worked long hours with local farmers and raised his children in the state. Evarist...
24.Wyoming
30-12-20205mPeople come to Jackson, Wyoming for many different reasons: for Sven Taow, it was the promise of a high-paying summer job. He didn't find riches but Sven discovered a passion for t...
25.Utah
31-12-20206mDaniel Shellabarger lives in a cave in the breathtaking canyons outside Utah's Arches National Park. A middle-aged former Peace Corps volunteer and social worker, Daniel disavowed...
26.Oklahoma
01-01-20215mChuck White and his family narrowly survived an EF5 tornado, escaping their house minutes before it, and his Oklahoma neighborhood, were leveled. Determined not to let any storm ke...
27.New Mexico
02-01-20215mFloyd Ashley is a retired educator who has spent his life dedicated to the Navajo people. During his years as an activist, teacher and community leader, Floyd has seen his share of...
28.Arizona
03-01-20215mLaVona Evans was born in 1912 on the same day Arizona became a state. Naturally, she’s felt that her own identity has always been tied to her state. Between the parades and parties...
29.Hawai'i
04-01-20214mPatricia Lei Murray is a passionate advocate for preserving and sharing the culture of Hawai'i, her native island home. She is a master quilter, threading a deep devotion to ancest...
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