“There’s always something going on in this house… it’s like a hotel for the Dominican Republic”

In intimate, vivid detail, My American Girls captures the joys and struggles over a year in the lives of the Ortiz family, first generation immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Matthews’ film captures the rewards – and costs – of pursuing the American dream. From hard-working parents, who imagine retiring to their rural homeland, to fast-tracking American-born daughters, caught between their parent’s values and their own, the film encompasses the contradictions of contemporary immigrant life.