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"This film examines immigration to the United States from the late 1800s to the 1950s. Ellis Island is the focal point of the program, which includes reminiscences by an immigrant as well as live action footage and old still pictures" (US National Archives). This documentary was a product of the Young Filmmaker Bicentennial Grant given by the US Information Agency.
Director
Writer
Status
Released
Original Language
EN

Ellis, a fourteen-minute film directed by JR and written by Academy Award winner Eric Roth, tells the elusive story of countless immigrants whose pursuit of a new life led them to the now-shuttered Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital. Following its opening in 1902, approximately 1.2 million people passed through the facility, where the Statue of Liberty can be seen from the windows. Languishing in a sort of purgatory awaiting their fate, many were never discharged.

Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.