Voces, Independent Lens
A Thousand Pines
Raymundo Morales runs a crew of 12 Oaxacan tree planters traveling the United States in this intimate portrait about a hidden world of guest workers regrowing America’s forests.
Brief Tender Light
At the elite MIT, four African students strive to graduate into agents of change for their home countries. But what changes come from living in two different worlds?
- Series
- POV
- Premiere Date
- January 1, 2024
- Length
- 90 minutes
- Funding Initiative
- Open Call
Producer/Director
Arthur Musah
Born in Ukraine, raised in Ghana, and now living in America, Arthur Musah is drawn to stories of people shaped by multiple places. His documentary Naija Beta played in Africa, Europe and the US, winning several festival awards. Musah studied filmmaking in the University of Southern California’s MFA program. He holds a bachelor’s and… Show more
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The Film
As undergraduate students at America’s premier technological university, a group of ambitious African students come of age, learning lessons in and beyond the classroom. They embarked on their MIT education with individual ambitions – to run a civil engineering company and be a shining example for girls in Tanzania; to secure a better life for family in northern Nigeria; to contribute to postgenocide reconstruction in Rwanda; to enter into politics and the fight for democracy in Zimbabwe. Their missions are distinct, but fueled by a common goal: to become agents of positive change back home.
Even as their dreams are anchored in the societies they have left, their daily realities are defined by America – by the immediate challenges in their MIT classrooms and the larger social issues confronting the world outside of those classrooms. Their new environment demands they adapt. Each is forced to refine their ideas about the world and about themselves, ultimately deciding how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to transform youthful ideals into adult action.
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