PORT TOWNSEND — “Ellis,” a short narrative film starring Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and directed by the Paris street artist-turned-filmmaker JR, will screen at the Northwind Arts Center, 701 Water St., this Wednesday evening.
Admission is free to the 7 p.m. showing; doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and the Boiler Room of Port Townsend will donate refreshments during the event.
“Ellis,” written by Tim Roth, is a fictional story set in Ellis Island’s abandoned hospital; the movie features JR’s art installation “Unframed,” which has been on public display on the island since last year.
Immigration
This 30-minute film focuses on both the past and present of immigration in the United States — and on the global refugee crisis happening now.
Ellis Island is the apt setting, because that place was the gateway for 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954.
Like other works from JR, “Ellis” asks the question: Can art change the world?
JR, who now works in New York City, won the TED Prize in 2011, and used the $100,000 award to start the Inside Out Project (www.insideoutproject.net), a global, participatory art endeavor.
Wednesday’s “Ellis” showing is presented by the Northwind Arts Center, the Boiler Room coffee house at 711 Water St. and the Mandala Center for Change.
The Mandala Center’s Poetic Justice Theatre Ensemble will engage in a theatrical dialogue after the movie.
Attendees also can choose to be in a group photo to be sent to JR.
For more information, contact Amy Smith at the Boiler Room via 360-379-8247 or boilerroomed@gmail.com, or the Northwind Arts Center at 360-379-1086.
________
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
