ellis_header

After collaborating around ten years ago for his sophomore directorial effort, The Good Shepherd, Robert De Niro has reteamed with screenwriter Eric Roth, but this time solely as an actor. The short film Ellis comes from French artist and director JR, and after playing in select theaters in New York City this past week, it’s now available to watch in full. Set amongst HR’s Unframed art installations, it’s quite a touching, beautiful short, which runs about 15 minutes and follows De Niro’s character walking around the abandoned remains as he reflects on the immigration experience in Ellis Island.

As the synopsis reads, it’s meant to “awaken our collective memory.” He adds, “Leaving their past behind them, immigrants fleeing poverty, discrimination, dictatorship arrived there. Ellis Island was the gateway to the United States for millions of immigrants. Upon arrival, they were processed, approved or denied access. Due to sickness or simply tiredness, many were placed in the hospital. A purgatory of sorts, in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, where thousands of men, women and children awaited their fate. ELLIS tells the forgotten story of these immigrants who built America while questioning about those who currently seek the same opportunities and safety in this country and other parts of the world.”

JR has now uploaded it to Facebook for only the next 24 hours, so check it out below, along with his attached message and the striking poster.

From wars to refugee crisis, from terror attacks to global warming, we are living in a time of radical change. Will we stand united against violence? Will we welcome people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds into the countries we now call home? Our choices define who we are and shape the world we live in. We all come from somewhere, our film ELLIS is a collaboration between French, Italian, German, Tunisian and Moroccan immigrants. When we started this project almost 3 years ago we had no idea how much we would learn. Watch ELLIS today on Facebook, for 24 hours and start a solution-based conversation in your community.

ellis_poster

No more articles