Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey

$375.00

License

University & College DVD (with PPR*) K-12, Public Libraries (with PPR*) Digital Site License DVD + DSL (w/ PPR)

Directed by: Sofie Calderon
Released: 2022 (educational)
Year of Production: 2017

Running Time: 90 min

Language: English

Subtitle Options: English Closed Captions

Subjects: Race Power and Privilege

Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey is the award-winning film of Elizabeth Liang's funny, sharp, and poignant one-woman show about growing up in the intersections of identity as a dual citizen of mixed heritage in Central America, North Africa, the Middle East, and New England.

Liang is a Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK). A CCK is a person who has lived in—or meaningfully interacted with—two or more cultural environments for a significant period of time during developmental years. Liang weaves humorous and moving stories about growing up abroad with American commercial jingles providing her soundtrack through language confusion, first love, "racial ambiguity," culture shock, Clark Gable, and sandstorms…

Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey offers a rare glimpse into the life of a multiracial Third Culture Kid and the powerful effect--both positive and negative--that life has on the adult the child becomes. It's the only film to address the intersections of identity in terms of nationality, language, gender, race, culture, religion, class, and global mobility in a single person and performance. Elizabeth deals with the decisions every global nomad has to make repeatedly: to adapt or to simply cope; to build a bridge or to just tolerate. Where is the line between respecting others and betraying yourself?

Humor is a good coping mechanism, and friends make all the difference.

Outstanding Achievement Award Winner at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival 2018, Official Selection of the Mixed Asian Media (MAM) Fest 2021,

"The students loved it. Highly recommend if you are looking for a film on identity, race, and culture. Elizabeth Liang’s reflections are familiar no matter where you grew up or how you define family!" — Michelle Bezanson, PhD. Professor of Anthropology , Santa Clara University

"Funny, poignant, and sharp, with a sophisticated analysis of the intersections of identity...Not just moving, but illuminating...Her comic timing, flair for the telling detail, massive range of emotive ability, and willingness to wrench open the wounds we all have are what first strike the viewer. But what remains is the knowledge that we gain from all great art: we are not alone." — Wendy Laura Belcher, Ph.D. Professor of African Literature, Department of African American Studies and Department of Comparative Literature Princeton University

"Showed the film in my course... loved hearing students make connections to all of the various identity theories we have discussed and to hear them connect their own experiences to Lisa's life. Few portrayals of identity are able to connect the experiences of culture, race, sex, mobility, family, friendships, social status, and a sending organization in such clear and compelling ways." — Amy Jung, Ph.D. Lecturer at Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication University of Florida.

"I screened Alien Citizen for my class and they loved it! It inspired students to create their own material with courage." — Lynda Crawford, SUNY / Empire State College

About the filmmaker

Elizabeth Liang (aka Lisa) is an actress, writer, producer, speaker, and workshop leader. Her one-woman show, Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey, toured internationally from 2013 to 2019. It is now an award-winning film available digitally and on DVD. Lisa has acted on stage, new media, television, and film. She is also a published essayist; co-host of the longest running podcast on the multiracial experience, Hapa Happy Hour; and an autobiographical storytelling workshop leader. She delivers keynotes on intercultural and inter-sectional storytelling. Lisa grew up in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Morocco, Egypt, and Connecticut. She graduated from Wesleyan University.

Sofie Calderon makes her directorial debut with Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey. Calderon is an award-nominated performer and theatre producer whose Los Angeles credits include Genet's The Maids (Stage 52, 4 NAACP Award nominations), Blade To The Heat (Stage 52 and The Coast Playhouse), The Evidence Room’s Ovation-nominated play Red Light, Green Light, and productions at Chalk Rep, the Court Theatre, and Wilshire Ebell. A graduate of UT at San Antonio, she also acts on film and television. Her television credits include recurring roles on "The L-Word: Generation Q" and "The Shield," as well as "NCIS," "All Rise," "Grey’s Anatomy," "Shameless," "Bosch," "Heroes," "Criminal Minds," and several award-winning festival indie films. As a producer, Sofie is excited about her feature film projects.

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