Rain in a Dry Land screened at Portland Public Library

Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 7:30pm

Rines Auditorium

FREE

Portland, Maine - Rain in a Dry Land, a 2006 documentary by Anne Makepeace that chronicles bantu families from Somalia traveling from refugee camps to the United States, will be screened at the Portland Public Library on December 5th at 7:30pm in the Rines Auditorium. This film is is intended to help build empathy and understanding by sharing a particular story about two Somali Bantu families experiences as refugees but illuminating broader themes about experiences of war, of leaving home, and of what it means to come to America.   This film screening is presented by Portland Public Library’s Choose Civility Initiative in partnership with PPL’s Cultural Team and Catholic Charities Refugee and Immigration Services.

“The experiences of New Mainers are vastly varied and the complexity of refugee stories are largely unknown to most of us, yet the sharing of stories is crucial for extending empathy and maintaining a vibrant civil society” says Choose Civility coordinator Kim Simmons.   “We are thrilled to partner with Catholic Charities to share this particular story of immigration and to reflect on its insights for our larger community as Maine has become home to many Somali Bantu families”.


More information about the film can be found at http://www.pbs.org/pov/raininadryland/