Welcome to Vermont: Four Stories of Resettled Identity

Directed by Mira Niagolova

Welcome to Vermont: four stories of resettled identity, a 65-minute documentary, offers a nuanced view of lives of forcibly displaced people once they have achieved their ultimate desire to resettle in the US and "live the American dream." In four vignettes, it takes us inside the daily lives of four families from Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, and Rwanda who have recently resettled in Vermont, one of the smallest and most homogeneous states in the country. The documentary raises questions about identity, assimilation, and diversity and explores how the adaptation process differs from one ethnic group to another, from one individual to the next. Welcome to Vermont is an intimate portrait of communities grappling to re-frame their identities as they strive to build their lives in America. By sharing the stories featured in the film, Welcome to Vermont aims to engage the general public, educators, and students in a humanistic dialogue about diversity and tolerance.