Lancaster filmmaker Sam Soliman is bringing his 15-minute short documentary about his family’s experiences with U.S. immigration policy to local audiences this month.
“Almost American” will debut in Lancaster at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, at West Art on Buchanan Avenue. The film documents the moment Soliman’s mother, Ester Soliman, was unexpectedly arrested by immigration enforcement officers on Aug. 4, 2025, after living in Lancaster for 25 years.
Soliman, a 2016 J.P. McCaskey High School graduate, also shares his efforts to stay in good standing with immigration authorities as a Dreamer, a person who immigrated to the United States with their guardians as a child.
Soliman created the documentary with local filmmakers Saritha Rothermel and her husband, Michael Rothermel.
“We want our community to hear and see our own stories reflected on screen,” Saritha Rothermel said. “It’s a chance for us to come together. It’s a collective processing of people who supported Sam through his experience.”
The Lancaster screening is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Lancaster County and will feature a panel discussion moderated by Matt Johnson, a community activist and former Church World Services employee. Rothermel said audience members will have the chance to ask questions and participate in the discussion.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at lanc.news/WestArtdocu.
“Almost American” will be shown for free at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 28, at the West Shore Theater in New Cumberland (317 Bridge St.).
In November, the documentary will kick off Franklin & Marshall College’s Human Migration Film Festival, a three-day showing of films on migration and displacement. “Almost American” will be shown, at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 12. The event is free, but registration is required at lanc.news/fandmfilmfest.
The Row House Forum will show “Almost American” at 6:30 p.m., Nov. 30, at Wheatland Presbyterian Church on Columbia Avenue.
Dream Act advocacy
Soliman and Rothermel traveled to Washington, D.C. in June to show the documentary to members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. After the screening, Soliman spoke on a panel to advocate for the passage of the Dream Act, legislation that would permanently protect immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
Rothermel called the experience “powerful” and “sobering.” She said she and her partners tried to speak to as many congressional staffers as possible to urge them to support the Dream Act.
She also said Soliman plans to meet privately with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, Lancaster County’s Republican congressman, in the coming weeks to talk about the legislation.
Currently, 217 lawmakers in the U.S. House have signed a discharge petition to force a vote on the Dream Act, including all of Pennsylvania’s Democratic House members and Bucks County Republican Brian Fitzpatrick.
The petition needs one more signature to force its debate on the House floor.
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