DOCUMENTARY / TRAVEL

American Dream

The number of emigrants from the Soviet Union and post-Soviet European countries to the United States reached a critical level in the 1990s. Over 15 years, nearly a million people from the USSR moved across the ocean. For the USA, this influx of immigrants from their strategic enemy became a significant issue. The American public pressured Congress to change the legislation. However, the constitution, signed by Benjamin Franklin, is based on democratic values and freedom. In this immigrant nation, all newcomers are considered equal by default.

In the West, the USSR was always seen as synonymous with Russia, so refugees from there were all labeled “Russians”.

Jews, Moldovans, Gypsies, Armenians — in immigration, members of minority groups often became “Russians” even faster than they had at home. The Russian language became an unconscious rope that tied people together. The only counterweight to the Russian community in North America was the Ukrainians, who maintained their Ukrainian language in daily life.

This film follows a Ukrainian journalist on a journey in the cabin of a trucker, his compatriot. They travel through 11 American states, from ocean to ocean, crossing two borders. Covering 10,000 kilometers of roads and capturing 350 gigabytes of footage, the film presents about a hundred thoughts and dreams of people with different skin colors and different souls.