USA / 2005 / 56mins / English

Over the course of ten months, this film follows the lives of three Sudanese refugees who resettle in the Philadelphia area and adjust to the new American culture and way of life.

Filmon Mebrahtu

Born in 1968, Filmon Mebrahtu gave up his career in managing wireless Internet network to make films that tell the stories of African immigrants’ lives in Philadelphia, and their experiences dealing with American culture. From 2002 to 2004, he participated in the Independent Television Service (ITVS) Mentorship Program, working with award winning filmmaker Louis Massiah. Mebrahtu’s films include Stop Killing Taxi Drivers (2001), Rencontrer (To Meet - 2004) and Dinka Diaries (2005); they have been screened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Northwest Folklife Film Festival and Northwest Festival of African Cinema, both in Seattle, Philadelphia Film Festival, Festival of Independents, Prince Music Theatre, University of Pennsylvania’s African Study Center, Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, the Eritrean Film Festival in Washington D.C., and the New York African Film Festival. His work has also been broadcast on WHYY and WYBE television. Dinka Diaries, produced in association with ITVS, NBPC and co-produced with WYBE, was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Filmon was a recipient of the prestigious Pew Fellowship Award in 2005 for the research and development of his work Emigre that chronicles the experiences of two Senegalese Muslim immigrant families over a year period - one in Paris, France, the other in Philadelphia, USA. Filmon Mebrahtu received his B.S. from South Dakota State University and his M.S. from Texas A&M University. Learn More