Multimedia Collection

Roots in the Sand

VHS
57 minutes
F870 .E2 R61 1998

With characteristic sensitivity, Jayasri M. Hart's new documentary Roots in the Sand challenges prevailing impressions of the rugged frontier by enriching the landscape with stalwart Sikh, Moslem and Hindu settlers in this Mexican­Punjabi version of the "taming of the Wild West."

One of these pioneering figures, Purn Singh, arrived from the Punjab region of India during the early years of this century to southern California's desert region Imperial Valley. There, he settled with hopes of owning land. He and other Punjabi immigrants soon discovered, however, that in America they must learn to circumvent racism, miscegenation laws and even a mob of bloodthirsty Anglo farmers seeking vengeance for the murder of one of their own.

Through a combined use of extensive archival material, including a 1937 amateur documentary discovered in a storage room at Imperial airport, and personal interviews, the director paints a Wild West that demanded not only physical stamina, but indomitable spirit as well.

During the five years of filming and editing, Hart and her crew experienced firsthand the lives of the people they interviewed by participating in some of their daily routines, such as harvests, birthdays and holidays.

Roots in the Sand addresses what media has conveniently omitted from history books and the western genre.

Description Disclaimer

History

Contact Us: (541) 737-2538,