By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – Film star Cristiana Dell’Anna travelled to Geneva on Friday to highlight her film about the age-old dangers confronting migrants and the astonishing Italian missionary who worked in the slums of New York at the turn of the last century, trying to protect them.
The film, Cabrini, is inspired by the true story of Italian nun, Mother Francesca Cabrini, who Pope Leo XIII tasked with helping vulnerable migrants arriving in the United States at the turn of the last century.
It offers an uncomfortable front row perspective on the discrimination and racism reserved for poor Italian migrants, who were unable to speak English in the already booming city and whose dark skin led to them being called “monkeys”.
Mother Cabrini took in orphans, fed, clothed and educated them in New York despite serious lifelong sickness.
She was canonized for her work in 1946 – the first US citizen to be made a saint.
Ms. Dell’Anna said that the film is an opportunity to raise awareness about the difficulties migrants continue to face: ‘Where does the migrant stand today in a world where it’s easier to trade merchandise and it’s easy for things to travel around the world rather than human beings?”
“We should probably reflect on these issues and understand where we place humankind, compared to objects.”
UN estimates indicated that there are at least 281 million migrants worldwide, a number that has increased over the past five decades, with people continuing to leave their homes driven by poverty, conflict and climate change.
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