Rosevelt’s America

Winner Huston International Film Festival, broadcasted nationally on PBS.
  • Information
  • Reviews
  • Screenings and Awards

  • The Story

    Rosevelt’s America is a cinema verite profile of the struggles of a Liberian refugee to build a new life in America. After being tortured and narrowly escaping execution during Liberia’s civil war, Rosevelt Henderson makes his way to America with three of his children but is forced to leave his pregnant wife behind. He works as a janitor, airport van driver, and assembly line worker in order to support his family an help his wife flee their war-torn country. After two years of juggling low wage jobs, Rosevelt’s perseverance pays off and he is reunited with his wife, Frances, and his baby daughter. By capturing Rosevelt’s day-to-day struggles, frustrations, and achievements, viewers come to appreciate the distance he has traveled during his harrowing journey from torture and desperation in his native Liberia to security and stability in his newly adopted homeland. Ultimately, Rosevelt’s America becomes an inspiring story of quiet determination and dignity under duress.

    DVD Purchase

    Visit our Store page for more information

  • Reviews

    An uplifiting portrait of dignity under duress.
    — Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times 06/22/05

    … 26-minute doc about a refugee from war-torn Liberia, Rosevelt’s America reminds us that some live under even more desperate circumstances. No matter how bad it gets here, the U.S. remains a beautiful dream for many Third World denizens.
    — Raven Snook, Time Out New York 06/23/05

    For heart-wrenching emotional intensity, little tops Roger Weisberg’s and Tod Lending’s Rosevelt’s America… The American dream is more than just a cliché to Rosevelt, who perseveres through setbacks and disillusion. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself fighting back tears while watching this study of a profoundly decent man.
    — Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star

    Years of documentation produce profound revelations about hope and redemption, both personal and political, and the payoff is hefty.
    — Baltimore City Paper Online

  • Screenings & Awards

    Winner Huston International Film Festival
    Cleveland Film Festival 03/05
    Newport Beach Film festival 04/05
    Kansas City Jubilee 04/05*
    Phoenix Film Festival 04/05 Iowa City Docs Film Festival 04/05*
    Arizona Film Festival 04/05*
    Riverrun Film Festival 04/05*
    Trenton Film Festival 04/05
    Fort Meyers Beach Film Festival 04/05
    WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 4/05*
    Maryland Film Festival 05/05
    DeadCENTER Film Festival 6/05*
    San Francisco Black Film Festival 6/05
    Indiefest Chicago 07/05
    Philadelphia International Film Festival 07/05
    Woods Hole Film Festival 07/05
    Rhode Island International Film Festival 08/05
    Breckenridge Film Festival 09/05
    CINE Golden Eagle Award 06/05

    * won top award