Crossing over

Plot :
Crossing Over is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities
struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document
fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office
of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures. Written by Wayne Kramer (imdb)
Idioms, slangs and vocabulary used
Order of recognizance = ■ noun Law a bond by which a person undertakes before a court or
magistrate to observe a particular condition, e.g. to appear when summoned.
Bussed out 3 hours ago = they were transferred out by bus to another place
Happy now? = this is the consequence of your attitude or action = ؟ حالا خوب شد؟ راضی شدی
My dad's nationalization party = a party when new citizens are invited to become a legal US citizen
Compadres! Let's do it = friends
Why don't you go back to Camel‐humping Saudi Arabia? = برو به عربستان شتر سوار
No sister to do your grunt work? = difficult work = ؟ آبجی نداری کارهاتو بکنه
I got this little Glock/ruger, homie = types of gun = نوعی اسلحه کمری پليس آمريکا
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My uncle's into him for 50 large = 50 thousand dollars = عمويم برای ۵٠ هزار دلار دنبالش است
Reverse ID on a Mary Smith number = try to find someone's identification
I didn't have time to stop my car. You just shot out like that = get a parked car out of the space quickly
You look dazed = without concentration
Adjudication officer = I judge whether an immigrant can be granted citizenship
AAA = Alcoholic Anonymous Association انجمن الکلی های بی نام و نشان
I make it fly = make it attractive or acceptable = کاری می کنم که جذاب تر شه
EB1 = The EB-1 is a preference category for United States employment-based permanent
residency. It is intended for "priority workers" or foreign nationals with extraordinary talent. نوعی
ويزای ورود به آمريکا برای افراد نابغه يا ويژه
I hope you are not jerking me around = fooling me. cheating me
Would you make it worth my while? = make up for it, compensate
You are on the clock from tomorrow = your job starts as of tomorrow
Rag‐head chick = insulting word for an Arab or a Moslem =
Your essay elicits sympathy for suicide attacks = you are indirectly supporting terrorists = مقالات شما
همدردی با تروريست ها را می طلبد
They didn't go about it the right way = do it
I'm gonna put the baby down = have it sleep = بچه رو بخوابونم
Consorting with the outcast = socialize, associate, mingle, mix
Never been invited to a shunning before = when people avoid, insult or do not respect strangers
He doesn't pine = does not complain
I feel gutted = shocked, disappointed
In a hospice = a place for old, sick people to spend time till they die
All of a sudden you lay it on me = you blame it on me
Bar/bat mitzvah = the religious ceremony held when a Jewish boy/girl reaches the age of
13 and is considered an adult
Have gone to shul? = a synagogue
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Beat yourself up = blame yourself
Letterhead = piece of paper for a company to write its formal letters or requests
Twiddle your hair/thumbs = move or turn, have nothing to do
Wanna watch you on the set = on the shooting set
If she signs me, it is major = excellent
I'm pushing for a one‐on‐one = between only two people
Bite the dust = die or be killed
Print shop = place where photocopies
Did someone have it in for her = harbor a grudge against someone, v. phr., informal To wish or
mean to harm; have a bitter feeling against. George has it in for Bob because Bob told the
teacher that George cheated in the examination. After John beat Ted in a fight, Ted always had
it in for John.
He was cranking them up (the documents) = forge, fake
Perhaps someone was cutting into their action = interfere
Do you doubt the veracity of my heart? = honesty, integrity
Need sb to talk it through with? = talk about it seriously and deeply
Don't play coy with me = don't pretend you are shy
How austere it was = painful or hard
Everything is a red flag = danger
I could joust with you all day = argue
She is illegal and removable = she will be deported
They're shit out of luck = unlucky
I N S guy = The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S.
Department of Justice from 1933 to سازمان مهاجرت و اعطای شهروندی امريکا = 2003
I don't have to be worried about being narced on = call the police to arrest me for my illegal activities
She intimated to me that ….. = she tipped me off = indirectly informed me
This is clean and press = when talking to a dry‐cleaner = لطفا اينها رو خشک شويی واتو کنيد
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We won't have to skulk around anymore = to hide or move about secretly so that you are not seen or
arrested = قايم موشک بازی کردن، آسه برو آسه بيا
On your own volition = without force or obligation = willingly
I make your skin crawl = you hate me
Start over again = start anew
Her personal effects envelope = personal belongings or possessions
An ordained rabbi = a religious leader for Jews = يک خاخام رسمی
This will prove more expedient = it is the least harmful choice
Another please. Last call pal = American English the time when customers in a bar can order
one more drink before the bar closes SYN last orders British English
They must have been lax in surveillance = not very serious in security cameras
We ran a check on your name = we checked your name
Walk‐on roles = small acting part with no words to say in a play or film, or an actor who has a
part like this
I take it you are familiar with Ms. Clair Shepard = I guess you know her
She traded you for voluntary departure = she cooperated with the police so that she wouldn't be
arrested and deported
It's incumbent on me to remind you of your newfound responsibilities as citizens = I must tell you
Got it on with a married man = had an affair
Recite the oath of allegiance = promise that you will be loyal to the USA
I ID'd Farid's Beemer = I identified his BMW = he was the driver of the BMW, so he is the murderer
My father wanted her humiliated and brought in line = obedient
She was seeing a degenerate effing beaner = a corrupt mexican
I only wanted to get in his face a little bit = bother, tease
I'll notify your FOS (factor of safety) = position, an operator talking to an officer in the field
Synopsis :
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After immigrant Mireya Sanchez is deported, officer Max Brogan takes care of her little son, and brings
him to the boy's grandparents in Mexico. Later the woman is found dead near the border. Brogan returns
to the grandparents to tell them the bad news.
Cole Frankel, a corrupt immigration officer, makes a deal with Australian immigrant Claire Shepard: he
can have unlimited sex with her for two months, then she gets a green card. In the course of the two
months he separates from his wife and wants to make the relationship with Shepard one of love, but she
declines. He exempts her from completing the two months and arranges the green card. However,
authorities find out and arrest him and Shepard is deported. His wife Denise Frankel adopts a little girl
from Nigeria, who has already been in the detention center several years.
Brogan has an Iranian colleague, Hamid Baraheri. Hamid's family disapproves of his sister having sex
with a married man. Encouraged by his father his brother plans to beat them up, but he ends up killing
them, and is arrested.
South Korean teenager Yong Kim, who is about to be naturalized, reluctantly participates in a robbery
with four others. Hamid kills the four in a shootout but lets him go. He lies to the authorities that there
were only four robbers.
Gavin Kossef, a young British immigrant, pretends to be a religious Jew, to get a job at a Jewish school,
which allows him to stay in the U.S. In a test where he has to demonstrate his familiarity with the Jewish
religion he does not perform properly, but a rabbi asked to assess it approves it, so that the immigrant
passes the test. After the test, in private, the rabbi requires from the immigrant to take lessons from him to
eliminate the deficiencies in his knowledge.
Taslima Jahangir, a 15-year-old girl from Bangladesh, presents a paper at school promoting that people
should try to understand the 9/11 hijackers. The school principal reports this to authorities. She is not
charged for this, but it turns out that her parents and she are illegally in the U.S. One parent of choice can
stay with the girl's two younger siblings, who are U.S. citizens because they were born in the U.S., the girl
has to leave with the other parent to Bangladesh, even though she has lived there only until she was
three. She leaves with her mother, and cannot even say goodbye to her father.
Wikipedia:
Crossing Over is a 2009 American independent drama film about illegal immigrants of different
nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document
fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforcement, naturalization, the office of counterterrorism
and the clash of cultures. Crossing Over was written and directed by Wayne Kramer, himself an
immigrant from South Africa, and is a remake of his 1995 short film of the same name. Kramer produced
the film alongside Frank Marshall.[1]
Crossing Over was filmed on location in Los Angeles in 2007.
Plot
There are several stories interwoven throughout the movie. For simplicity, they are separated out in this
description, each with its own paragraph.
After immigrant Mireya Sanchez is deported, immigration officer Max Brogan takes care of her little son,
and brings him to the boy's grandparents inMexico. Later the woman is found dead near the border.
Brogan returns to the grandparents to tell them the bad news.
Taslima Jahangir, a 15-year-old girl from Bangladesh, presents a paper at school promoting that people
should try to understand the 9/11 hijackers. The school principal reports this to authorities. FBI agents
raid the home and ransack her room, reading her diaries and a school assignment on the ethics of
suicide, criticizing her room as "too austere" and noting that she has an account on an Islamic website.
The profiler says this makes her look like a would-be suicide bomber. She is not charged for this, but it
turns out that she has only resident status. She was born in Bangladesh and brought to America at age
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three. Her father is studying for the citizenship test and Taslima's continued presence jeopardizes his
chances and puts the two younger siblings at risk. The young kids are U.S. citizens because they were
born in the U.S. Denise Frankel, the immigration defense attorney, suggests that instead of the whole
family being deported, Taslima can leave for Bangladesh with her mother while the rest of the family
stays in the US.
Cole Frankel, an immigration officer, gets into a car accident with Claire Shepard, an aspiring actress
from Australia. Realizing that she is in the country illegally, Cole makes an arrangement with Claire where
she will have unlimited sex with him for two months in exchange for a green card. When Cole eventually
says he wants to leave his wife for Claire, she makes it clear that she holds him in contempt and is only
sleeping with him for the green card. In a moment of clarity, Cole exempts Claire from completing the two
months and arranges for Claire to get her green card in the mail. Authorities eventually confront Claire
about the suspiciousness in her immigration paperwork and she admits to the sexual arrangement she
had with Cole. She leaves the country "voluntarily." Cole is arrested. His wife Denise Frankel adopts a
little girl from Nigeria, who has already been in the detention center for several years.
Brogan has an Iranian colleague, Hamid Baraheri. Hamid's family disapproves of his sister having sex
with Javier Pedroza, a married man. Encouraged by his father, Hamid's brother plans to scare the couple,
but things get out of hand and he shoots both of them and goes to Hamid who helps him hide the
evidence. Brogan slowly suspects Hamid's involvement as the film progresses.
Also, Javier Pedroza works in a copy shop and made extra money by providing counterfeit immigration
papers for undocumenteds. Claire had previously paid him for false papers before she had made her
arrangement with Cole. But when Javier was killed, the authorities discovered her documents among his
belongings which is what caused immigration to examine her case more closely.
South Korean teenager Yong Kim is about to be naturalized with the rest of his family, but he has started
to hang out with a bad crowd and ultimately participates in a convenience store robbery to "pop his
cherry" with his gang. Hamid happens to be at the same convenience store and kills the other robbers but
(due to his own guilt over his involvement in his sister's death) lets Yong Kim go free.
Gavin Kossef, a Jewish musician (really an atheist) from the United Kingdom pretends to be a religious
Jew in order to get a job at a Jewish school, which allows him to stay in the U.S. In a test where he has to
demonstrate his familiarity with the Jewish religion he does not perform properly, but a rabbi asked to
assess it approves it because of his voice. After the test, in private, the rabbi requires from the immigrant
to take lessons from him to eliminate the deficiencies in his knowledge.
[edit]Cast
 Harrison Ford as ICE Special Agent Max Brogan
 Ray Liotta as Cole Frankel
 Ashley Judd as Denise Frankel
 Jim Sturgess as Gavin Kossef
 Cliff Curtis as ICE Special Agent Hamid Baraheri
 Alice Braga as Mireya Sánchez
 Alice Eve as Claire Shephard
 Summer Bishil as Taslima Jahangir
 Jacqueline Obradors as FBI Special Agent Marina Phadkar
 Justin Chon as Yong Kim
 Sarah Shahi as Pooneh Baraheri
 Melody Khazae as Zahra Baraheri
 Merik Tadros as Farid Baraheri
 Marshall Manesh as Sanjar Baraheri
 Nina Nayebi as Minoo Baraheri
 Naila Azad as Rokeya Jahangir
 Shelley Malil as Munshi Jahangir
 Jamen Nanthakumar as Abul Jahangir
 Jaysha Patel as Jahanara Jahangir
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 Leonardo Nam as Kwan
 Tim Chiou as Steve
 West Liang as Mark
 Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as Detective Strickland
[edit]Production and distribution
The film originally featured a scene in which an Iranian character is murdered by her brother in an honor
killing, but the National Iranian American Council opposed the plotline as being unrealistic and offensive,
and the killing was presented as a beating-up which got out of hand, removing the dialogue referring to
"honor" and "family honor".[2][3]
Additionally, Sean Penn filmed scenes as an immigration cop. However, his scenes were cut due to the
controversy over the honor killing plot, though producer Harvey Weinstein later claimed that Penn's agent
requested his scenes be cut out of the film.[4][5]
Though the film was shot in 2007, it was not released until 2009, and even then only in a limited theatrical
run. The film's original running length was 140 minutes long, but this film's producer (who had final cut
privilege) was convinced to edit the film down to under 2 hours when Harvey Weinstein threatened to
release the film straight to DVD and bypass a theatrical release altogether (in many countries outside of
the US, this was the case anyway).[6]
The film was distributed in the United States by MGM and The Weinstein Company. It was given a limited
theatrical release on February 27, 2009. It ultimately grossed less than half a million dollars in North
America, and just over $2.5 million internationally for a total of $3 million. The film has reportedly made
another $1.7 million in US DVD sales