Educational Media Reviews Online

When the cost of living is about 60% of an individual’s wages, then living frugal is an option for people. Your Day Is My Night is a hybrid documentary following the lives of seven working-class Chinese immigrants who live in apartments that has shift-bed space on the Lower East Side of New York City. A shift-bed space is a bed or space that is shared by two people who are not family or in a relationship.

A hybrid documentary is a documentary with other film components. In the case of Your Day Is My Night, a fictional Hispanic character Lourdes (Veraalba Santa) was introduced to the apartment. Her interactions with the rest of the cast made it seem as though they were character actors rather than just talking about their personal struggles and how they adapted to their new environment. People unused to this type of documentary rather than a documentary that is just straightforward accounts, may find the structure of this confusing or out of order.

I recommend this film to be included into a public library or academic library that has a large Asian American existing collections or serves Asian populations. People watching this documentary should also be aware that there are two different Chinese dialects spoken during the film together with Spanish. This film is suitable to be presented to an adult audience. Take a look at the film’s website for the trailer.