The Ensemble of Rules

"The Ensemble of Rules" is a media project that takes the form of 1) a full-length 60 minute documentary film for theatrical exhibition, 2) a series of six physical installations, and 3) a dissertation entitled "Celebrate Citizenship, Celebrate America: A revision of the form N-400 The Application for Naturalization". The overall media research attempts to investigate and respond to the content of the audiovisual guide for naturalization produced by USCIS entitled "The USCIS Naturalization Interview and Test". Simultaneously the research aims to open new interpretations of this immigration processes by including interviews with displaced individuals. The documentary includes conversations with Alma Jimenez, a naturalized US citizen originally from Mexico City, Rafael Madou-Madou, a Congolese refugee living in Buffalo, NY, and fragments of a documentary piece about María "La Gata" de Buenos Aires, a tango singer and immigrant from Buenos Aires, Argentina.