America, America

‘Anatolia, shortly before the turn of the 20th century. Young Stavros, the son of a Cappadocian Greek, watches with growing concern as the Turks take imperialist liberties with the Armenian and Greek minorities. When Stavros’s best friend, the Armenian Vartan, is murdered during a Turkish pogrom, it becomes crystal clear to Stavros: liberation from these conditions can only be found in distant America.” (Frank Stegemann)

‘In 1963, Kazan returns to the black-and-white style of early cinema to act, in one fell swoop, as a storyteller, family chronicler and historian. In America, America, he recounts the story of his uncle Stavros, pieced together from a patchwork of tales, as if the aim were to reveal the legend within an individual’s fate and the fate of all emigrants within the legend. Before Stavros reaches Ellis Island, he has betrayed his ideals, lost his money, torn his homeland from his heart and, like Simplicissimus, wandered through bloodbaths, adventures and the turmoil of the era and of the heart (…). America, America: an auteur film. It begins with the self-assured words: ‘My name is Elia Kazan.’» (Harry Tomiczek, Austrian Film Museum)

Preserved by Warner Bros. in association with the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Preservation funding provided by Warner Bros., the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and The Film Foundation.