SYNOPSIS
Small, old American shopping malls, abandoned by big companies, have become the place of business for immigrants in the United States. Immersed in one of these informal embassies, the director tries to understand the worldview of Brazilian immigrant workers, while at the same time trying to unravel the extremist political networks that surround them.
Os pequenos e antigos centros comerciais americanos, abandonados pelas grandes empresas, tornaram-se o lugar dos negócios dos imigrantes nos Estados Unidos. Imersa em uma dessas embaixadas informais, a diretora tenta entender o imaginário dos trabalhadores brasileiros imigrados, ao mesmo tempo em que tenta desvendar as redes políticas extremistas que os cercam.
the strip mall project
Nas ruínas do american dream
director’s statement
Florida. Literally, the land of flowers. Land of beach resorts, of amusement parks, of warm and sunny weather. But above all, Florida is the heart of Latin America within the United States, Brazil included. Decade after decade, the Brazilian community kept growing here, making Florida the ultimate hotspot for Brazilian immigration nowadays. And that's why I'm here. In the last few years, the Brazilian community in Florida has become an enigma to Brazil itself. And that's why I've decided to make this movie. A few years ago, an accelerated growth of the extreme right began to occur worldwide. And Florida became a stronghold for the American conservative far-right. And consequently, for the Latin American and Brazilian far-right as well. It's no coincidence that Bolsonaro fled here at the end of his term. And that, not far from here, lies Donald Trump's famous mansion. With all these extremist advances, everything here is highly polarized. And portraying the communities on film became increasingly difficult. That's why I decided to start in one single place. A small place. A traditional strip mall in Pompano, Florida.
Pompano is the largest focus of Brazilian immigration in the world. And that's why this documentary will be set here. The strip mall was chosen at random, among the many that have Brazilian businesses in the area. I consider these commercial centers, called 'strip malls', these lined up stores in front of a large parking lot, an American icon. They are fundamental parts of suburban civilization, a way of life that was created by the mass use of cars. And that's why I decided to single them out. They represent both consumerism and car dependency at the same time. There's nothing more American. I've decided to spend ten days here, no more, no less. We are a crew composed exclusively of Latinos. This strip mall has just over a dozen stores lined up in front of a parking lot. In the last few decades, American companies have moved to large shopping malls, to structures where people can walk around inside. And those old model shopping centers have come to be decadent, old, ugly, and without any charm. Here, the rent is a bit cheaper. With no money to invest in city centers and larger shopping malls, this is where the immigrants come, transforming every one of these shopping centers into a kind of informal embassy of their countries. These strip malls, abandoned by the Americans have become the place for immigrants and their dreams of prosperity. In other words, the place of what's left of the American dream.
During all those days, no immigrant workers were approached by police. They're “free” to work. They are free to work 15 to 20 hours a day, from Monday to Monday, paying taxes and making spin the economy of this country. At the same time, anti-immigration laws are getting stricter and stricter. To make the immigrant more and more fragile, and to take away any minimum rights that may have remained. For this, the fear of the other needs to be inflamed every day. You have to hate the other in order to enslave them. Almost all the small commercial centers in this area, that are rented by the immigrant communities, belong to the same owner. This guy, who owns almost this whole area, was convicted of tax evasion, the biggest crime one can commit in this country. And for him, Trump conceded one of six presidential pardons he signed on the last day of his term. Control over the communities and the minds of immigrants is fundamental to the extreme right in this country. Florida is connected by networks invisible to us. The American Dream is a ghost that lives on tormenting Latin America. An old world model unsustainable, chaotic and unequal.