The Reach for “The American Dream” is

Farther Then it May Seem

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Little Plow Films famous duo Brittany Ballard and Jami Walker Smith are taking the American Dream and putting a new spin on it.

 

Brittany Ballard is the manager of Film Forward, a joint initiative between Sundance Institute and The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. She is currently serving her eighth year as Director of Programming and Festival Producer for Urban-world Film Festival, presented by BET.

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Jamil Walker Smith, born August 1982, has been a working actor since the age of 13. His first role was the voice of Gerald, Arnold’s best friend in the Nickelodeon TV series Hey Arnold!. He appeared on various other shows such as Sister, Sister, The X-Files, and The Bernie Mac Show. In 2008 at The Big Easy New Orleans Film Festival Smith won best actor for the role of Shucky in the acclaimed short film, In the Wind. Smith’s most recent role has been a series regular on the popular SyFy shows Stargate Universe. In addition to his various acting roles, Smith also directed and produced the short film The Son in 2007.

 

This pair created the film, “The American Dream”, featuring two young men who videotape their last 36 hours before shipping off to Afghanistan. Best friends Luis and Ronald have joined the Marines together to face the obstacles and circumstances that seem to overwhelm their passage into manhood. Armed with dreams that extend beyond their block, Luis wants to be a filmmaker and Ronald wants to travel the world, but they soon realize that their dreams and promises of a new life mean nothing in a place called War.

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The mission of “The American Dream” was to produce a film that appeared to be made by the target audience- those whose realization of the American Dream is war, whether their battles are fought in the streets of Los Angeles or the streets of Kabul.

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However, the film has a deeper message than just the hardships of war; it focuses on the factors that bring people into war. Ballad states, “In speaking with men and women in the military, we soon realized that we weren’t making a film about war. We were making a film that questions a ‘system’ that leaves young people with no better alternative than going to war. A ‘system’ which then appeals to young peoples’ self-interests, and, in turn, puts them in a position of self-sacrifice.”

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At a time where poverty and unemployment is reaching an all time high, people are forced to deal with less opportunities and more real life decisions. Many young adults are unable to pay for a college education, unable to get a job, and tied down with bills. Choices are limited with all of these factors working against them. For many, the military is the only place to turn to. With a salary to help the family, and an education that will be paid for, it is the only way to get their ‘big break’.

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The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, where supposedly everyone has the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. But are people really living and pursuing this dream in this bad economy? Or have they given up in order to pursue a path where the rewards seem too good to turn down?

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The military has managed to meet and exceed their recruitment and retention goals since 2006, many numbers reaching 104-110%. Only about 5.2% of these recruits have college degrees and many believe that as the economy rebounds, strong recruitment numbers will not hold.

 

As stated on their website, Little Plow Films is now focused on “creating a new film movement here in the United States where the lack of resources serve the story as opposed to hindering it, blurring the line between reality and fiction. However, our intention is not to trick the audience into believing that what they’re watching is real, but rather what they’re watching is true to life.”

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So now the question remains: what’s next in this “new film movement”? The American Dream is currently traveling the international festival circuit, including Santa Barbara and Edinburgh International Film Festivals. As “The American Dream” circulates, Ballad and Smith are co-writing and will co-direct the screen adaption of Ayelet Waldman’s novel, Daughter’s Keeper, which will shoot in Oakland this year. Daughter’s Keeper is a story of the drug war brought home, and the politics of the American legal system. Ballad and Smith will be expected to shed new light on these controversial topics to keep the attention and interest of the audience.