Lest We Forget

San Francisco Premiere

Director:
Jason DaSilva

USA 2003
57mins | Video Color
Director's Website

If we don't learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat it. LEST WE FORGET urgently reminds us of how people of Japanese descent were interned as "enemy aliens" during World War II. It connects those alarming violations of civil liberties with recent events where people of Arabic, South Asian and Muslim origin were named as our new "enemy aliens" following the events of 9/11 in 2001.

This layered, moving and important documentary investigates how extensive homeland security can be when it crosses the line to racial attacks and unjust treatment of innocent individuals. The film contains a chronology of voices that have felt the severity of wartime security in America. LEST WE FORGET interweaves the perspectives from the side left unheard, with the intention of using the lessons from the past to create a better future.- Ivan Jaigirdar

Preceded by:

American Made

Director:
Sharat Raju

USA 2003
25 min | 35mm Color

A South Asian American family is stranded in the Arizona desert thanks to a broken-down car. Writer/director Sharat Raju uses this remote environment as a vehicle to delve into the American life of the Singh family, using a son's comment (that his father won't get a ride because his turban makes him look like a terrorist) to deftly explore such conflicts as familial duty, cultural assimilation, religious faith and national identity.
- Ivan Jaigirdar