INSTITUTIONAL/EDUCATIONAL DVD & HD
"I'm not from a place. I'm from people."
Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey, the movie, is the dynamically filmed version of Elizabeth Liang's funny and poignant one-woman show about growing up in the intersections of identity as a dual citizen of mixed heritage in Central America, North Africa, the Middle East, and New England. Directed by Sofie Calderon.
The Institutional DVD includes special features and a Tool Kit on a second disc. Click here for the Press Kit.
STREAM it on Gumroad. Click here for Institutional licenses and links to the film and Tool Kit.
To stream Alien Citizen for home use without the Tool Kit, click here.
Scroll down to order the DVD with Tool Kit & Special Features!
Not just moving, but illuminating...funny, poignant, and sharp, with a sophisticated analysis of the intersections of identity...Her comic timing, flair for the telling detail, massive range of emotive ability, and willingness to wrench open the wounds we all have are what first strike the viewer. But what remains is the knowledge that we gain from all great art: we are not alone.
— Wendy Laura Belcher, Ph.D
Professor of African Literature, Department of African American Studies and Department of Comparative Literature
Princeton University
The students loved it. Highly recommend if you are looking for a film on identity, race, and culture. Elizabeth Liang’s reflections are familiar no matter where you grew up or how you define family!
— Michelle Bezanson, Ph.D
Professor and Chair of Anthropology
Santa Clara University
A little masterpiece, really.
— Gene H. Bell-Villada, Ph.D
Harry C. Payne Professor of Romance Languages
Williams College
click for more testimonials
Showed the film in my course... loved hearing students make connections to all of the various identity theories we have discussed and to hear them connect their own experiences to Lisa's life... Few portrayals of identity are able to connect experiences of culture, race, sex, mobility, family, friendships, social status, and a sending organization (i.e. Xerox) in such clear and compelling ways. I love this show and film!
— Amy Jung, Ph.D
Lecturer at Dial Center for Written and Oral Communication
University of Florida
Truly inspiring and thought provoking!
— Suzy DeVore
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Hillsborough Community College
After watching Alien Citizen, I facilitated a conversation on identity, asking students to share personal experiences of displacement. The film was the perfect springboard for the discussion!
— Ana Candida Carneiro
Visiting Artist in Playwriting
Amherst College
I screened Alien Citizen for my class and they loved it! It inspired students to create their own material with courage.
— Lynda Crawford
Adjunct Professor, Playwriting Lab
SUNY / Empire State College
EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION
Subject Areas
Diversity and Inclusion; Multicultural; Third Culture Kids; Critical Mixed Race Studies; International Relations & Global Issues; Children, Youth & Families
Anthropology; Foreign Languages and Literatures; Linguistics; Psychology; Sociology; Theatre; Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
American Studies; Asian American Studies; Ethnic Studies; Latin American Studies; Middle Eastern & North African Studies
Library Subject Terms: Cultural pluralism; Cultural fusion; Identity (Philosophical concept); Social interaction in children -- Foreign countries; Affiliation (Psychology); Filmed performances; Nonfiction films; Autobiographical films
Academic libraries that own the DVD: Boston College | California State University, Fullerton | California State University, Los Angeles | Calvin University | Carleton College | Duke University | Fresno City College | Georgia Southern University | Mount Holyoke College | New York University | Oberlin College | Oklahoma City University | Princeton University | Redcliffe College (UK) | San Diego State University | Santa Clara University | Smith College | Touro University, California | Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico) | University of Central Missouri | University of Colorado Boulder | University of Illinois at Chicago | University of Minnesota | University of Washington | Virginia Tech | Weber State University | Wesleyan University | Williams College
K-12 & International school libraries that own the DVD: American International School (Costa Rica) | American School of the Hague (Netherlands) | Balboa Academy (Panama) | Doshisha International School, Kyoto (Japan) | International Schools Services | Jakarta Intercultural School (Indonesia) | Marian Baker School (Costa Rica) | Newburgh Enlarged City School District (USA) | United Nations International School of Hanoi (Vietnam) | UWCSEA East (Singapore)
Museums that own the DVD: Museum of the American Military Family & Learning Center
This award-winning film is also a fascinating addition to all public library collections.
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HD STREAMING LICENSES & LINKS
Alien Citizen and the Tool Kit can be streamed on Gumroad. Click here for Institutional licenses and links.
Lending rights to library patrons are included in the purchase price of the streaming license, as are classroom screenings. For public screenings outside the classroom, see the instructions on the Gumroad page.
Click here to stream Alien Citizen for home use without the Tool Kit.
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DVD SPECS/LICENSING/PURCHASING
90 MIN (plus Special Features)/COLOR/DUAL LAYER/NTSC REGION 0
Viewable on most Blu-ray players, all NTSC DVD players, and many PAL/SECAM DVD players.
Institutional (K-12/Public Library/Nonprofit/Gov Agency) DVD: $124.99
Institutional (College/University) DVD: $249.99
SPECIAL FEATURES
• Post-performance Q&A with the director, writer-performer, and audience
• Interviews of Elizabeth's parents and brother about being an expat/TCK family
• Deleted scenes from the original stage production
PLUS:
• The Tool Kit (digital study guide), consisting of:
• Definitions of terms (TCK, Multiracial, etc.)
• Recommended reading & viewing lists
• Recommended websites for intercultural learning
• 35+ clips of the show, with each clip followed
by related questions for the viewer.
These can be used for:
• in-class discussions
• interactive workshops
• orientation for new students
• group and individual counseling
• writing prompts for personal essays, memoirs,
solo shows, conference presentations
• other creative endeavors
• And more!
TOOL KIT EXCERPT
Individual (home use) DVD: $24.99 40% OFF: $14.99
For Institutional DVD licensing rights information, click here.
Payment Options: CREDIT CARD/PAYPAL below or U.S. CHECK FROM U.S. BANK (click to print ORDER FORM)
Buy DVD w/ Special Features
(click on bar for dropdown menu)
Individual (Home Use) SALE $14.99 USD
Institutional (K-12/Nonprofit/Public Library/Gov't Agency) $124.99 USD
Institutional (College/University) $249.99 USD
Public Screening Licenses (Outside the Classroom)
Admission-Free Screening for 21-100 People $100.00 USD
Fundraiser Screening Rights for 100 People or Less $150.00 USD
5 Screenings Package for Crowds of 100 or Less $350.00 USD
IF YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE
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FILM REVIEWS
Her stories are rich and funny and painful and heartbreaking. And while they’re unique to her, they will resonate with others who understand the significance of such terms as 'home base-ish' and 'transition fatigue' and 'foreign school'....In Alien Citizen, Liang gives a vivid, outside-in view of the places where she’s lived, where the mundane becomes exotic and the exotic mundane. There’s drumming on turtle shells during Christmas celebrations in Guatemala, walking barefoot across the road to buy orange Fanta in Panama, wind surfing in Morocco, and riding in a car spinning on the ice in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It’s because she’s given herself 'permission to speak of the pain' that she can be grateful for all the wonderful things she’s experienced. And through Alien Citizen, we get to experience it all, too.
-Craig Thompson, Clearing Customs
I was riveted...Liang allows us inside her struggles and triumphs and brings them full circle in a way that helped me more fully understand mine. By being real about the pains, she freed me to experience the joys in the rich, nuanced way that is real life...I loved how Liang took the freedom to break into Spanish or Arabic during her story...By using all her languages in “Alien Citizen,” Liang brings closer the people who can follow her and also envelops the stragglers, carrying them over the hump into something more—a world where we are not just different but also the same, one where tone and gesture speak as loudly as vocabulary...I could go on for pages about the things I related to in Liang’s show...But I don’t want to rob you of the experience of watching it and seeing what you, global nomad or not, might relate to, too. Because we’re all a little alien sometimes, no matter where we come from or where we’re living right now...From Liang I learned about who I was, am, and want to be. And I’m grateful.
-Isla McKetta, A Geography of Reading
Told in beautifully written and poignantly acted vignettes about her life, Liang’s [film] is dynamic and vivid. She uses her physicality to marvelous effect as she embodies each of the different people she’s encountered, from her family and friends to everyone else in between, with vocal precision...I found myself nodding along to so many of Liang’s anecdotes and analyses about her experiences, even though we have a vastly different catalog of places we are from and lived...Alien Citizen is heart-wrenching and painfully honest, but it is also really funny...her charismatic performance works as both a play and a movie. This is no small feat. Sofie Calderon’s directing is spot on...There are so many third culture kids in the world, and Liang’s show encapsulates so much of our collective experience, even if individual details are different...Alien Citizen will help anyone confused by what it means to be a Third Culture Kid understand both the hardships, as well as the joys of this kind of life.
-Sezín Koehler, Black Girl Nerds
There are times when you’re about to fall off your chair laughing, only to find yourself tearing up in the next scene. She tells it all, the privileged and exciting, but also the challenging and frustrating sides of growing up as a TCK, having to move and leave behind one life, only to have to adapt to a new one, again and again. Every TCK can relate to her story, which she tells so vividly with her amazing acting, that you feel like you were almost there with her in that memory...honest and raw, hilarious and heartbreaking...I invite all TCK’s and their parents to watch Elizabeth Liang’s breathtaking performance in her show Alien Citizen, which will help you recognize, relate to, and understand some things that TCK’s experience growing up.
- Deniz Keskinel, Connecting the Pieces: Expat Kids Club Blog
It’ll make you laugh, cry, yell “HELL YES!” at the screen...Elizabeth’s linguistic skills and ability to mimic accents and mannerisms brings the colourful characters to life...As so much of the piece resonated with me, as it will for many migrants, I found myself wishing all my friends and family who struggle to understand my lifestyle would also watch it and understand me better...In Elizabeth’s audience we get a sense of belonging, of feeling non-alien.
-Victoria Mitchell, Huffington Post contributor, Freelance Writer, Blogger, Content Creator
Funny, dramatic, passionate, heartbreaking, and engaging...Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey is as mind-engaging and heart-touching as solo performances get, and with Liang’s one-woman show now available for worldwide home-and-school viewing, its informative, inspiring journey has only just begun.
-Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA Fim Review
Once again, we experienced the power of storytelling for creating awareness, healing through sharing, and revealing what still needs first aid...she stokes laughter of recognition from the innards of her audience...she offers something that others can somehow relate to in their own stories and start to accept with a chuckle...Liang explores her story with force of fact and confession of impact but does not whine or blame. Rather her performance is powered by an empathetic ownership for her past that connects her with her audience.
-Dr. George Simons & the diversophy® Team
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
It is so incredibly moving. Such a great resource for trainings and classroom discussions about important topics of identity, belonging, and being a global and multiethnic person.
-Farzana Nayani, Diversity & Inclusion and Intercultural Specialist
If you want to spend 91 minutes laughing and crying, this is what you need to watch. This film of her one-woman show is galvanizing—Lisa Liang has nailed the Third Culture Kid/Global Nomad experience in all its highs and lows. Thank you, Lisa, for helping me revisit and uncover those extraordinary experiences, and relive the emotions. Your courage has helped me in my continuous search to find closure.
-Cookie F., Intercultural Trainer and Adult TCK
It spoke to us on many levels. The timing couldn’t be better. I’m on the cusp of my next assignment overseas and we don’t know how to tell our daughter we’ll be moving… But one very important new thing Alien Citizen helped realize: don’t force our daughter to suppress her feelings to reinforce my glass-half-full outlook... Thank you again.
-Peter E., State Dept Foreign Service Officer
Alien Citizen is a must watch. Wish it could be seen around the world...From one TCK to another - Thank you.
-Marilyn Gardner, Speaker, Blogger, Author of Worlds Apart
I'm so glad I finally saw this performance. It's so powerful, brought me to tears...you have done something amazing.
-Janneke Muyselaar-Jellema, from DrieCulturen: Blogger, ATCK, Medical Doctor
...a fantastic, thought-provoking, hilarious, poignant performance, screening and discussion...Your voice is much-needed and much-appreciated by members of the mixed race and third-culture communities.
-Maria Leonard Olsen, Esq., Attorney, Radio Show Host, Author
It was amazing! I laughed and cried…I didn't want it to end. I'm sure it will continue to give others a better understanding of what it's like to be a TCK.
-Missy R., Writer
Profound and extraordinary and wonderful—like being swooped into deep space. We were carried away.
-C.O. Moed, Writer-Photographer
I was floored by the story line and performance. So impressive! I laughed out loud and cried—fantastic. The interviews at the end add a lot, too.
-Theodore H., Computer scientist
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OUR PARTNERS
TCKidNOW and Families in Global Transition (FIGT) are our partners in spreading the word about Alien Citizen: AEO and the TCK experience:
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Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey - A film by HapaLis Prods