“Give me your tired, your poor,
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
These famous words engraved on the base of the Statue of Liberty greeted the many immigrants who arrived in the United States through Ellis Island. This promise of the American dream will be examined in a series of 10 films featuring immigration to the United States.
The film-series class is sponsored by Hawaii County and the Department of Parks and Recreation Elderly Activities Division and begins at 12:45 p.m. today at Kamana Center.
Cost for the entire program is $10. Participants can register at the center, 127 Kamana St. in Hilo.
At each class, a different film about immigration to the United States will be shown. Before the film, basic facts about the actors, directors, writers and plot will be presented, along with some directed questions on issues to look for during the film.
After each film, the class will discuss those questions as well as other matters of interest.
The 10 films in this series cover a wide scope of stories, in terms of the time period and countries of origin. “The Golden Door,” an Italian film from 2006, shows Sicilians arriving at Ellis Island in the 1920s. “America, America,” a film directed by Elia Kazan, is another early story, this one of a Greek immigrant who escapes Turkish persecution and comes to the U.S. in 1895.
Two films cover immigration from Asian countries. The “Picture Bride” tells of picture brides from Japan in 1918.
In “Journey from the Fall,” a Vietnamese woman and her children come to America while her husband remains imprisoned in Vietnam.
“El Norte” and “Under the Same Moon” cover immigration tales from Guatemala and Mexico, respectively.
Middle Eastern immigrants are featured in “The Kite Runner” and “Man Push Cart.”
“The Good Lie” stars Reese Witherspoon as an American woman who helps four Sudanese refugee boys in resettlement. In “The Visitor,” a reclusive professor attempts to help a couple who are immigrants from Syria and Senegal.
For more information, email patsy_otoole@hotmail.com or call Patricia O’Toole at 333-9850.