At a time when the public dialogue about immigration to the United States has never been more fraught, a beautifully executed new web series by filmmaker Arthur Vincie presents the exciting, terrifying, weird, experience of immigrant life in New York in gorgeous detail.
Emilie Ruscoe, BushwickDaily
But what separates the series is how it grounds its characters in real detail and specific heritages. They aren’t just from Africa , they’re from Eritrea and Senegal. Iranian immigrants aren’t just Muslims in the US, they’re conflicted about a homeland that expelled their parents and remains very much in transition. The show loves to dwell on the smaller moments, with dialogue that skillfully jumps from banter and sarcasm to bittersweet and touching.
[The characters] are neither tarted up in glamour drag to make them presentable, nor visualized pathetically. They have the natural beauty of people, and yes, these people are looking good. We meet them in a world made up of moments not long arcs; moving like water from one piece of New York to another, much in the manner of Hal Hartley films. No one asks for our understanding or compassion; they all shimmer invitingly in their personhood. Moreover, they embody what so many have noted about the clarity of perception of
‘outsider.’
Martha P. Nochimson PhD, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
Also our own articles:
Three Trembling Cities, From Scene to Screen: The Process of Bringing a Scene To Life, by director Arthur Vincie for MovieMaker magazine
Immigrants, Stereotypes and Casting: Talking with the Actors of Three Trembling Cities, by Producer Daria Sommers for Woman Around Town
Three Trembling Cities – The Immigrant Experience in New York, by Producer Daria Sommers for Woman Around Town
Mixing Fact With Fiction in Three Trembling Cities: How real-life interviews became the key to a narrative web series about immigrants, by director Arthur Vincie for Stareable