“The challenge with Little America, is that we’re not telling what we’re used to hearing about immigration,” says Canadian director of Indian origin Deepa Mehta offhandedly. Continuing from a stellar first season, the AppleTV+ anthology fiction series truly tells hopeful stories about immigration filled with shared experiences — all, without exception, inspired by real-life experiences. .
“These stories brought to the screen are very special, but they deal with all human connections”, continues the director, several times in the running for the Oscars, such as in 2007 for his feature film Waterfall.
After signing the direction of the episode” Manager “ in season 1 of Little America in 2020 Deepa Mehta returns therefore for that of “ Mister Song », in which we follow the fate of Luke. This young man from a Korean family, who lived in Detroit’s black community in the 1980s, is particularly recognized worldwide for his talent as a hatter thanks to the colorful headdresses he created for Aretha Franklin.
“The scenery of this episode is pure gold, the meeting of two cultures and coexistence,” underlines Deepa Mehta, who absolutely wanted to preserve the honesty of the representation and the past of Luke Song. . “How do you keep that balance without just talking about skin color or cultural identity? Always keeping in mind what are the foundations of humanity, however complex they may be, that bind us all », she confides with a disarming benevolence in her voice. And like Luke Song in real life, the one in fiction doesn’t compromise, he goes ahead no matter what. “That’s what I really liked about the character of him,” she says.
For her part, author of the episode and co-director of Little America, Sian Heder admires the friendship between Luke Song and Martha Jean Steinberg, a famous Afro-descendant radio host from Detroit. “Their connection is nothing short of amazing, given that Luke considered Martha to be his second mother. As a result, their almost familial relationship was very interesting to explore and transpose into the series,” specifies the Oscar winner for best adapted screenplay for Tail earlier this year. The essence of this second season is found here, in the exploration of the unexpected.
The American dream, otherwise
Two years after the release of Little America, which began in 2020 under the Trump era, from which emanated a “deep anti-immigration sentiment with a constant demonization of newcomers”, its second season camps “in a climate that is a little more conducive to discussions”, remarks Sian Heder. “While hatred and division are still part of the political landscape and discourse in the United States, I find it important to look at what the ethos of the American dream means today,” adds the writer, producer and director. According to her, it is as much an opportunity as a burden, two aspects so opposite that they become fascinating to exploit.
By telling stories that are not simply optimistic, Sian Heder and her team of collaborators wanted to show what immigrants sacrifice, what they no longer have when they arrive in the United States. “Some people lose their family, their culture, their community and sometimes the American dream just doesn’t work. We wanted to hear those stories as well,” she adds. This World After is really the leitmotif of Season 2 of Little America.
“It’s the most important aspect of the series, which makes us see the world in all its grandeur,” says Deepa Mehta. For her, it remains essential to expose these positive journeys of people that many consider foreigners. “But you know, mothers are mothers and children are children, regardless of our origins or our language”, concludes she who made it an honor to participate in Little America.
