POV

Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini direct Farmingville, a documentary about a suburban community torn apart by illegal immigration. In 2000, a conflict erupted resulting in the deaths of two Mexican workers at the hands of white men. The next year, Sandoval — a former New York lawyer with no filmmaking experience — moved to the Farmingville area of Long Island to make the film. He and Tambini attempt to present both sides of the issue in order to make a balanced argument. Farmingville is home to both wealthy home owners and immigrant day laborers, and each side has its share of activists. Farmingville was part of the documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival before receiving a broadcast premiere on the PBS series P.O.V., “Farmingville” explores the tensions surrounding the influx of Mexican immigrants, many illegal, into this suburban community on Long Island, N.Y. The impact has been “severe and intense,” says Margaret Bianculli-Dyber, who organized the opposition after some 1500 Mexicans arrived in this town of 15,000 in the late 1990s, most to work in landscaping and restaurants. The opposition turned ugly, culminating in the attempted murder of two workers (one of whom is interviewed), and caught in the middle are local officials, who are powerless to force the newcomers out even if they wanted to. Says Suffolk County (N.Y.) legislator Paul Tonna: “This is not an issue that is going to go away.” “Farmingville” won a Special Jury Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.