The Summer Help: A new feature-length documentary directed by Melody Gilbert. 

At their university in Eastern Europe, they are future bankers, journalists and politicians. In America, they are just “the help.”

From Martha’s Vineyard to Myrtle Beach, thousands of international students descend upon summer resorts and tourist towns in the U.S. to clean hotel rooms, wash dishes and make pizza for Americans on vacation. Who are these students and what will they find when they get to the country of their dreams? Why do they work at two, three and sometimes four jobs for minimum wage? Is America what they thought it would be? In this documentary, we meet students from Bulgaria who dream about going to America to do the jobs that most American teenagers don’t want to do. What will they find when they get there and how will it change them?

Many of the students have name tags with names you might not be able to pronounce, but filmmaker Melody Gilbert finds out who they are. Follow them on their journey from their small villages to their first plane rides and as they adjust to new lives as summer workers.

At a time of foreclosures and unemployment in the U.S., The Summer Help reminds us that America still represents hope and fulfills dreams for young people from around the world…even if it’s just for one summer.

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To contact the director Melody Gilbert: melodygilbert01@gmail.com

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