Well-Founded Fear

Well-Founded Fear
"Sec(101): Persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion."
Directed by	Shari Robertson Michael Camerini
Produced by	Shari Robertson Michael Camerini
Music by	Mark Suozzo
Cinematography	Michael Camerini
Edited by	Karen Schmeer Suzanne Pancrazi Christopher Osborn
Production company	The Epidavros Project, Inc.
Distributed by	The Epidavros Project, Inc Roco Films International
Release date	Wisconsin Film Festival January 31, 2000 Sundance Film Festival National Broadcast June 5, 2000 PBS As CNN Presents: Asylum in America May 27, 2001
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Well-Founded Fear is a 2000 documentary film from directors Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini. The film takes its title from the formal definition of a refugee under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, as a person who deserves protection, "owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” The film analyzes the US asylum process by following several asylum applicants and asylum officers through actual INS interviews.

On average, only one in two hundred asylum applicants is ever admitted as a refugee to the U.S. A refugee is defined as someone afraid to return home for fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. Any foreign citizen who is able to find a path into the U.S. is eligible to apply for refugee protection in the form of political asylum. At the time of filming, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) handled all requests for asylum.

Behind the doors of the asylum office lies a dramatic real-life stage where American ideals about human rights collide with the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth. The film shows the closed corridors of the INS for an extraordinary close-up look at what has been called the Ellis Island of the 21st Century. It is an intimate world never before seen on screen—asylum officers, lawyers, translators, economic migrants, legitimate refugees looking for protection, all focused on the confidential interviews that are the heart of the asylum process.

Cases examined within the film involve individuals originating from China, El Salvador, Albania, Nigeria, Romania, Algeria, France and Russia. The film reveals the challenges of determining the validity of claims made in the asylum interview process.