Sarah, China
From the blog: “We met Sarah a couple of days ago, another one of our “characters.” She started and owns a business called Shanghaining.com kind of an Internet hip-hop community, as well as a Hip-hop clothing store. She is also a budding singer. We went to her studio the other day. She is very talented…”click here for more on our visit to China…
Pete O’Neal, Tanzania
From the blog: “Around Arusha, several people mentioned an American we should talk to, a guy named Pete O’Neal who had been living in Tanzania for over 30 years. It didn’t make sense to spend much time on an American in the film but we found the conversations with Pete – as well as with the bright young people at his United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) – were so powerful that we’re posting some video outtakes here.”click here for more on our visit to Tanzania…
Pete O’Neal, Tanzania
From the blog: “Around Arusha, several people mentioned an American we should talk to, a guy named Pete O’Neal who had been living in Tanzania for over 30 years. It didn’t make sense to spend much time on an American in the film but we found the conversations with Pete – as well as with the bright young people at his United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) – were so powerful that we’re posting some video outtakes here.”click here for more on our visit to Tanzania…
Yves, France
From the blog: “It was a 14 hour flight out of China and a brief rest then we hit the town with our central French character, Yves Cotoulic. We met him at his “office”, Les Chimeres, a wonderful little bar here in the Marais area of Paris. Yves is a local musician, teacher, philosopher and a bit of a clown.”click here for more on our visit to France…
Yves’ Mother, France
From the blog: “Today, in the house that her father made with his own two hands, Yves’ mother has made us chocolate mousse and in return I clumsily broke one of her wine glasses. The least I can do is sit by her side as she flips through old photo albums and speaks to me in French.”click here for more on our visit to France…
Afghanistan Montage
From the blog: “We’ve spent the past few days visiting with a number of folks. Most people have expressed positive views of US and its stabilizing presence in the last 4 years. After 25 years of invasions, civil war and the Taliban, people are happy for anything but what they’ve lived through. Unfortunately, there are few jobs and this is as poor a place as you could imagine.”click here for more on our visit to Afghanistan…
Gary aka DJ VNutz, Shanghai, China
From the blog: “Tonight DJ V-Nutz spins at a different club, a posh scenester bar with tasteful Orientalia on the walls and that fashionably dim red-orange lighting that makes the whole place look like it could double for an opium den.”click here for more on our visit to China…
Koichi, Japan
From the blog: “She talked in depth about how many of these students feel they no longer have a Japanese identity and have “adopted’ many American (those in America) “characteristics/ideas”. Most of these students have not learned much about Japanese traditions, history or culture and need to learn more in order to catch up to the other Japanese students.”click here for more on our visit to Japan…
On Ethanol in Brazil
From the blog: “Brazil is at the forefront of the renewable energy revolution and they are the world leaders in producing alcohol (ethanol) from sugar cane. A plant we visited yesterday produces 50 % sugar and 50% alcohol from the cane they process. They also produce enough electricity in the process to power the entire plant and sell energy to farms in the area.”click here for more on our visit to Brazil…
Maya, Israel
From the blog: “Maya, our young Israeli friend came along also. She had grown up so close to this area but had never seen any of it. Maya also had the opportunity to speak with a few Palestinians for the first time. The conversations while at times were difficult for both, an openness remained. It gives me some faint hope that peace might come some day.”click here for more on our visit to Israel…
Ahlam, Palestine
Like her sisters, Ahlam is very bright and serious, a student who wants to become a businesswoman in order to uplift her Palestinian community. We’re meeting with her later today. We made a deal. We’ll come over for a lunch of stuffed grape leaves - the leaves picked from the tree in Ahlam’s backyard - if I help her with her assignment for her advertising class. She has a paper due on Thursday.click here to read more our visit to Palestine…
Luba, Russia
From the blog: “I have heard many stories of the friends he made here. I am delighted that now when I hear him tell stories of names and places in Samara, I can nod in agreement. Luba, who was my Dad’s interpreter on his first visit, has served as our coordinator here. She has been amazing.”click here to read more our visit to Russia…
Opinions from the U.K.
From the blog: “We have done a lot of interviewing in London and we have found the people, for the most part, to be intelligent, witty, and not afraid to share an opinion with us. While there are many complaints about current U.S foreign policy, there also seems to be a general admiration for America and fondness for it’s people. London is a true cosmopolitan city, with a noticeably diverse population.”click here to read more our visit to the U.K….
Karen, Mexico
From the blog: “The economics on the Juarez side while upscale compared to many other Mexican regions are still but a shadow to what exists just a mile away in El Paso. Many locals have come from all over Mexico lured by the promise of jobs in the Juarez maquiladora factories and life in the US.”click here to read more our visit to Mexico….
The making of….
The film was edited from over 300 hours of footage shot on location in fourteen countries. A wide-ranging group of people are portrayed, with myriad different views and ideas of the United States. Not surprisingly, we found that the relatively simple idea of “what people think of America” is in reality incredibly complex.click here to read more about the making of…