Members of the Trump administration have raised the specter of a Muslim registry and instituted an immigration ban against people from Muslim majority countries, citing the unconstitutional incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as precedent for its actions. Social Action Media  As our opening film this fall, ADFS will present the powerful 2017 documentary And Then They Came for Us — a film that demonstrates that the registration and incarceration of Japanese Americans was one of the worst violations of constitutional rights in American history, and features survivors of that experience who are speaking out today.

As a result of President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1942 Executive Order 9066, approximately 120,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were evicted from their homes on the West Coast of the United States and held in American internment camps across the country. Over two-thirds of the people of Japanese ethnicity that were incarcerated were American citizens. Many of the rest had lived in the country between 20 and 40 years. Most Japanese Americans, particularly the first generation born in the United States (the nisei), considered themselves loyal to the United States of America. No Japanese American citizen or Japanese national residing in the United States was ever found guilty of sabotage or espionage.

Americans of Italian and German ancestry were also targeted by these restrictions, including internment. Eleven thousand people of German ancestry were interned, as were 3,000 people of Italian ancestry, along with some Jewish refugees.

Featuring interviews with George Takei and others who were incarcerated, as well as stunning photos by Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, and others, And Then They Came For Us documents the damage Executive Order 9066 inflicted on American citizens and others legally residing in the U.S. Particularly in our current political climate, And Then They Came for Us is a relevant, powerful and moving film you won’t soon forget.

2 FREE Screenings
In Piedmont: Wednesday, September 27
Ellen Driscoll Playhouse 325 Highland Avenue, Piedmont
6:30 pm Free reception | 7 – 8:30 pm screening followed by discussion

In Oakland: Sunday, October 1
The New Parkway Theater, 474 24^th Street (near Telegraph), Oakland
3:00 pm