After concentrating for many years exclusively and with great success on American subjects and settings, Kazan turned abruptly away, towards his native land and family history, by adapting his own novelization of his Turkish uncle's arduous journey from his small Anatolian village to Constantinople and ultimately to New York City. Using a cast of little known Greek and American actors and shooting exclusively on location in Greece and Turkey, Kazan set out to accurately recreate the bitter poverty and struggle faced by aspiring immigrants at the turn of the century. With a young Haskell Wexler bringing his signature hand-held cinematography and auteur editor Dede Allen quickening the pace, America, America offers a rare example of a spontaneous and richly energetic period film.