Eve A. Ma brings us another ethno-historical documentary, this time centered around the lives of Spanish immigrants to Hawai’i in the early 20th century. Fleeing poverty, disease, and starvation on the Iberian peninsula, over 8,000 Spaniards and more than 2,000 Portuguese people boarded ships headed for the string of Islands far off America’s West Coast before the beginning of World War I.
Interviews with children of immigrants and one surviving immigrant named Francisco Perez are the main content of this documentary. While occasionally steering the interviews, the subjects mostly talk as they want, especially Francisco who often rambles on about his experiences in various jobs or on various islands in Hawai’i. The women interviewed share mostly family stories from the time as most of them were not born during the period in question, but their insights are valuable secondary sources and help to understand the time period and the lives of the indentured servants of the sugar and pineapple plantations.
The one weakness of this documentary that must be stated is its lack of organization and additional information. While the interviews are interesting, most of the screen time is recordings of the subjects as they speak. Threading in more helpful images, maps, and infographics would have added a lot of value to watching this documentary instead of just listening. The rambling nature of the stories, while often filled with interesting information, makes for a poorly organized examination of history. These issues aside, Weaving with Spanish Threads is an excellent resource for this particular moment in history.
Anyone studying the colonization of Hawai’i would be most interested in this particular ethnographic undertaking. There are a few things Francisco mentions such as the state of transportation, building materials, and the varied cultural influences which affected him in his youth which compound this film’s usefulness. All said, this documentary is excellent and highly recommended.
What type of college professors could use this documentary?
Professors of early 20th century American history, Spanish culture, Early 20th century labor, and anyone studying immigration would find this film useful in their class.
What type of library programming could use this documentary?
Libraries on the West coast serving Spanish immigrant populations could program a film screening series on Hawaiian history, and the history of American Immigration and Labor in the early 20th Century.