Braiding a New Life: From Ghana to the Green Mountains

Braiding A New Life is a love letter to Brattleboro, Vermont, and a passionate portrait of reciprocity, mutual aid, and the value of cross-cultural friendships and diverse community. This 36-minute documentary follows Sarah, a Ghanaian asylum seeker, as she navigates life in Southern Vermont. We are with Sarah as she learns to drive with the help of a local volunteer, braids her friend Dora’s hair, chats on the local radio station, listens to a Congolese refugee band at a houseshow, shops at an African grocery in Springfield MA, and prepares for her asylum case hearing with the support the Community Asylum Seekers Project. Above all, this is a portrait of four women — who together weave a shining net of support, advocacy, humor, ferocity, tenderness, and care — in their relationship to one another and in commitment to a world in which immigrants are welcomed, valued and respected.

We’re partnering with local immigrant justice organizations to host community screenings this fall! To bring Braiding a New Life to your classroom or community, email contact@hapticpictures.media.