Americaville

Streaming video - 2020

Hidden among the mountains north of Beijing, far from the crowds, pollution, and bureaucracy of the capital city, a Wild West-themed gated community promises to deliver the American dream to its several thousand Chinese residents. Jackson Hole, China is one of the country's several replica cities. Director Adam James Smith is granted access to this exclusive town and lives among the residents to document their lives in this unique town. One such citizen is Annie Liu. She hangs many of her hopes on the town in her attempts to achieve her idea of the American Dream only to find the American idyll harder to attain than what was promised to her in China's Wild West. After widespread criticism from the Chinese media and feeling pressur...e from new breeds of nationalism radiating out from both the Chinese and American governments, the community becomes split between those who cling to the American dream and those who seek to reclaim their Chinese national identity within this idyll. more