Japanese internment camp documentary draws parallels to Muslim travel ban

Families on their way to internment near Woodland (Yolo County). Families on their way to internment near Woodland (Yolo County). Photo: Dorothea Lange Photo: Dorothea Lange Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Japanese internment camp documentary draws parallels to Muslim travel ban 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

What does the internment of Japanese Americans have to do with the Trump administration’s proposed travel ban? Plenty, as filmmakers Abby Ginzberg and Ken Schneider point out in their new documentary, “And Then They Came for Us.”

The documentary, which makes its San Francisco premiere at the AMC Van Ness 14 on Sunday, Oct. 15 (event is sold out), has interviews with former detainees, survivors of the 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated. The film also details Japanese Americans who speak out against the proposed Muslim ban.

A big reason this hits home: The Roosevelt administration’s Executive Order 9066, which ordered the internments, is being used as a precedent by President Trump’s team as a basis for the Muslim ban.

“Star Trek” actor George Takei, an internment camp survivor and prominent critic of Trump, is featured in the film, which also screens as part of the United Nations Associated Film Festival next Thursday, Oct. 19 (tickets still available).

— G. Allen Johnson

“And Then They Came for Us”: 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15. AMC Van Ness 14, 1000 Van Ness Ave., S.F. (415) 674-4630. www.amctheatres.com. 7:20 p.m. next Thursday, Oct. 19. $10. Aquarius Theatre, 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto, as part of the United Nations Associated Film Festival. www.unaff.org