Artist Uses Dracula To Make A Point About The NYC Immigrant Experience

An artist is showing the New York City immigrant experience through the story of "Dracula."

"The Western feeling today is being afraid of people coming from outside. People see them as strangers, so ... I thought 'Dracula' was a really good metaphor for our times," artist Andrea Mastrovito said.

The movie looks at how immigrants assimilate — including barriers they face, like discrimination and other hardships.

"NYsferatu: Symphony of a Century" is based on the 1922 silent film "Nosferatu." He and a team created over 35,000 drawings in the same style as the inspiration.

An Artist Is Using Old Phone Booths To Tell Immigrant Stories

The art installation is outside in New York City's Times Square.

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"When you draw, you have to spend a lot of time," Mastrovito said. "Because when you take a picture, it takes one second. When you make a movie, make a video, it takes a two seconds. But when you draw everything, you have to understand what you're doing. So I use this movie to understand myself, to understand the world."

In addition to the drawings, Mastrovito held workshops with immigrants to help refine captions and the plot. He is an immigrant himself, but he also wanted to incorporate other stories.

"We thought about this movie three years ago," he said, "and it changes so much because it was molded not only by people in the workshop, but it was molded by what happened in the world in the last three years, so it changes so much."

The film will be screened around New York City.