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Tartan Day on Ellis Island Sixth Annual Celebration Set for April 7, 2007 About the FIlms
“St. Kilda – Britain’s Loneliest Isle” This film is made up from two separate movies from 1923 and 1928 about the remote Scottish island of St Kilda. So the film is an important record of how things were on this remote place forty miles west of Lewis. Although these films were shot in the 20th century, the island community more closely resembles a Scottish village in the 18th century. The musical score aims to reflect two strands of feeling many immigrants must have felt about their homes in Scotland. There's sadness that such a beautiful place had to be evacuated, but there's also an acceptance that things really had become unbearable for the islanders in terms of a sustainable life. While the film captures the experience of having to abandon the lonely Atlantic islands, it harkens back to a period in Scottish history known as the Highland Clearances. A period from roughly 1785 through the late 1850’s which witnessed the displacement of thousands of highlanders. Of those evicted, sometimes forcibly, most were forced to leave their home behind and start a new life in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The audience, regardless of their personal ancestry, experiences the passage so many took in leaving their homes and heading off into a New World. For those with Highland ancestors, the films offer a haunting view of the life that their own ancestors experienced.
“A New Way to a New World”
“A New Way to a New World” is a fifteen minute travelogue from 1936 which tells the story of a sea voyage from Glasgow to New York. Passengers board the ship in Glasgow and then sail down the River Clyde. They amuse themselves onboard with some entertaining and bizarre games before finally arriving in New York, sailing past the Statue of Liberty on the way. The scale of Manhattan is daunting, but Broadway at night is fun. Then the action turns to Boston, and finally the spectacular Niagara Falls. Whereas the St. Kilda film conjures up vivid images of the 18th and 19th century Highland Clearances, this film provides the view with a window into the immigrant experience of the 20th century. We experience the voyage much the same way these forgotten travelers do. We see the first images of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
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