As a general rule, films will only be available to view during the week they are scheduled. we appreciate all of our filmmakers for being willing to participate in this virtual environment!

Read our film festival curator’s statement here

 Week 1: Immigration and Settlement

Released on June 14, 2020

Obaachan’s Garden

Dir. Linda Ohama | 94 mins | 2003

Peeling back the layers of her grandmother's life, filmmaker Linda Ohama discovers a painful, buried past in this feature-length documentary. Asayo Murakami, 103 years old, recalls life in Japan, her arrival in Canada as a "picture bride," her determination to marry a man of her choice, the bombing of Hiroshima and the forced relocation of her family during WWII. Beautifully rendered dramatic sequences are merged with an exquisite collection of memories, feelings, images and voices. Culminating in an emotional reunion with a long-lost daughter, this film is a personal reflection of Japanese Canadian history and a testament to one woman's endurance and spirit.

Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp

Courtesy of National Park Service

Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp tells the story of Japanese Americans, most of them American citizens, who were forcibly removed from their Pacific Northwest homes during Word War II. They were held in squalid conditions in temporary detention centers, and then put on trains to a concentration camp in the desert of southern Idaho. Innocent of any crime, many of them would remain imprisoned at Minidoka for over three years. In the compelling voices of survivors of the camp, the film explores the unconstitutional suspension of the civil rights of these Americans and the long-lasting impact of the incarceration on their community. Minidoka examines what happens when a group of Americans are imprisoned solely on the basis of race, and examines the relevance of this story today.

To learn more, visit www.nps.gov/miin.

Lil Tokyo Reporter

Dir. Jeffrey Gee Chin | 30 mins | 2012

A project of the Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) starring Academy Award-Winner Chris Tashima as Civil Rights Leader Sei Fujii. The film breathes life into the world of 1930’s Los Angeles and the journey of a Japanese newspaperman who must fight the corruption within his own community. The film won over 21 awards and screened with the U.S. State Department in South Korea, China, and Japan. The film inspired projects honoring Fujii’s legacy including the construction of a Memorial Lantern, a successful petition for a Posthumous Law License, and upcoming publications of a Graphic Novel and Biography. Additionally, LTHS established historic designation for the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights, a site that Fujii and fellow USC Law School Alumnus J. Marion Wright represented in U.S. Supreme Court in 1928 (Jordan v. Tashiro). The pair also overturned the infamous California Alien Land Law in 1952.

For More information please visit: http://www.littletokyohs.org/film-project.html

Finding Dohi

Dir. Amber McClure | 24 mins | 2019

FINDING DOHI is an intimate portrait of a woman separated by culture, language, and thousands of miles from a family she has never met. Daphne, a 3rd generation Japanese-American, holds on to letters sent to her mother long ago. The contents of the letters are a mystery, as they are written in Japanese - and she cannot read or understand the language. Thus begins her decades-long pursuit to fill in the scant details she knows about her Grandfather Dohi, who immigrated to Hawai'i from a rural Japanese village in 1891.

Documented by her daughter, their journey from Hawai‘i to Japan explores the themes of identity, language and culture loss, honoring ancestors, and reconnection, and reminds us that some family bonds cannot be broken no matter the time or distance.

Week 2: Pre-War and Forced Removal

Released on June 21, 2020

Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066

Dir. Jon Osaki | 66 mins | 2019

ALTERNATIVE FACTS sheds light on the people and politics that influenced the signing of the infamous Executive Order 9066, which authorized the mass incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans. The film exposes the lies used to justify the decision and the cover-up that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. ALTERNATIVE FACTS will also examine the parallels to the current climate of fear, targeting of immigrant communities, and similar attempts to abuse the powers of the government.

Bainbridge Island: Bearing the Unbearable

Bearing the Unbearable tells the story of the forced removal of Japanese Americans from their home on Bainbridge Island during World War II and their subsequent incarceration in Manzanar and Minidoka concentration camps, innocent of any crime and suspect only because of their ethnicity. Told in the words of Bainbridge Islanders who survived the camps, the film explores the experience of incarceration and the unconstitutional suspension of these islanders’ civil rights. The film profiles the resilience of camp survivors, and the island journalists who were a lonely voice against the incarceration. Bearing the Unbearable highlights the determination of the camp survivors to share their story as a cautionary lesson for America today. 

Hollywood at War: Anti-Japanese Propaganda in WWII

During the Second World War, the United States government enlisted the help of Hollywood filmmakers to carry out their propaganda messages on the big screen. The following excerpts were gathered from the vast body of anti-Japanese propaganda newsreels, cartoons, and scripted films produced by Hollywood studios under the guidance of the Office of War Information. All of these films are believed to be within public domain. This video was compiled for educational purposes pursuant to fair use guidelines. Edited by Rob Buscher - all rights belong to original Copyright holders.

The Orange Story

Dir. Erika Street | 17 min | 2017

The Orange Story is a narrative short film that tells the story of an elderly Japanese American man who must sell all his belongings and report to a temporary detention center during WWII from where he will be forcibly removed to an undisclosed location. The film also uses archival radio, film, and photographic sources to complement this narrative, providing a strong historical context for the story.

For more information: https://theorangestory.org/index.php

The Empty Chair

Dir. Greg Chaney | 1 hr 13 min | 2015

The Empty Chair is a unique documentary about how Japanese Americans from Juneau, Alaska were sent to prison camps during WWII and how the small Alaskan community stood in quiet defiance against the immoral internment of American citizens. Japanese immigrants came to Alaska in the early 1900's and settled here to raise families. Japanese Americans from the west coast of the US including Alaska were sent to prison camps by the US government from 1942-1945 because all people of Japanese heritage were considered national security risks. John Tanaka was born and raised in Juneau. In 1942 John was going to be the Valedictorian of his high school graduating class but was scheduled to be interned before the graduation ceremony. In response, the school board voted to hold a special early graduation ceremony for him before John was sent to a relocation camp for Japanese Americans. When the official graduation ceremony was held for the class of '42 they set aside an empty chair on the platform.

Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice

Dirs. Holly Yasui and Will Doolittle | 56 min | 2017

Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice relates the life history of an American hero. Minoru (Min) Yasui was born in Hood River, Oregon in 1916 of immigrant parents. He was the first Japanese American attorney in Oregon and during World War II, he initiated a legal test case by deliberately violating military orders that lead to the incarceration of over 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry in U.S. concentration camps. He spent 9 months in solitary confinement awaiting his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against him. The film depicts his and his family's wartime experiences in the temporary detention centers and the Tule Lake and Minidoka concentration camps.

 After the war, Min Yasui moved to Denver and continued to defend the human and civil rights not only of Japanese Americans but for Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, religious minorities, children and youth, the aged, low income people, etc. In the 1970s and 80s, he spearheaded the redress movement to win reparations and a formal apology from the government for the injustices against Japanese Americans during World War II. He also reopened his wartime case, and it was in appeal when he died in 1986. 

Viewers can rent or purchase the film for personal use at: vimeo.com/ondemand/nevergiveup

Additional Educational materials (for nonprofit organizations, schools and libraries) are available at: https://www.minoruyasuifilm.org/educational-package

Week 3: Sites of Incarceration

Released on June 28, 2020

The Crystal City

Dir. Kenya Gillespie | 13 mins | 2018

Combining present-day interviews and archival footage, this short documentary explores the physical remains of the Crystal City Incarceration Camp and the memories of its Japanese American survivors.

Dave Tatsuno: Movies and Memories

Dir. Scott Gracheff | 57 mins | 2006

At the beginning of World War II, Dave Tatsuno and his family, along with 120,000 other men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were forcibly relocated from their homes to ten remote and desolate imprisonment camps in the interior of the United States. Dave, with the help of a camp official, smuggled his 8mm film camera into the camp in Topaz, Utah and for three years, documented his life behind barbed wire. These home movies eventually became TOPAZ MEMORIES, the only full color film of the Japanese American internment experience shot by an internee and in 1996 the film was accepted to The Library of Congress National Film Registry. To date, it is one of only two home movies held by the Library of Congress - the other being the Zapruder film of the J.F.K. assassination. DAVE TATSUNO, MOVIES AND MEMORIES tells the amazing life story of this inspiring individual.

Hidden Legacy: Japanese Traditional Performing Arts in the WWII Internment Camps

Dir. Shirley Muramoto Wong | 57 mins | 2014

Various essays and studies concerning the camps have been published, but have focused on the political and legal aspects of the internment, while hardly mentioning cultural and recreational activities in the camps.  When cultural and recreational activities have been documented, they have focused on American culture, such as baseball and swing music.  This film will be the first major presentation of the existence of traditional music, dance and drama in the camps. Included are stories of artists in the fields of music, dance and drama who were interned at Tule Lake, Manzanar, Amache/Granada, Rohwer, Gila River and Topaz.

The Manzanar Fishing Club

Dir Cory Shiozaki | 74 mins | 2012

 THE MANZANAR FISHING CLUB is a feature length documentary that chronicles the WWII internment of Japanese-American from a unique perspective: through the eyes of those who defied the armed guards, barbed wire and searchlights to fish for trout in the surrounding waters of the Eastern Sierra. By emphasizing the evacuees' personal stories it is the first internment film to go beyond the confinement itself, and instead highlight values - courage, responsibility and cooperation - that enable the human spirit. Interviews with noted experts provide new insights in to the social political backdrop of the internment. This is the untold story of those who refuse to knuckle under and risked it all to go fishing just like other ordinary Americans.

Manzanar Fishing Club is available for purchase on DVD at www.fearnotrout.com

Week 4: A Question of Loyalty

Released on July 5, 2020

Honor & Sacrifice: The Roy Matsumoto Story

Dir. Lucy Ostrander and Don Sellers |28 mins | 2013

The complex story of a Japanese immigrant family ripped apart by WWII. The Matsumoto family included five sons; two who fought for the Americans and three who fought for the Japanese. The eldest son, Hiroshi (Roy) became a hero, fighting against the Japanese with Merrill's Marauders, an American guerrilla unit in Burma. He was born near Los Angeles, educated in Japan, and became a hero when he used his Japanese language skills and military training to save his surrounded, starving battalion deep in the Burmese jungle. At the same time his parents and sisters were living in their family's ancestral home, Hiroshima. The story is told by Roy's daughter Karen as she discovers her father's work in military intelligence, kept secret for 50 years. To learn more about Roy Matsumoto visit www.honordoc.com 

The Registry

Dir. Bill Kubota and Steve Ozone | 57 mins | 2018

THE REGISTRY, chronicles the efforts of aging veterans to document the crucial work they performed as trans- lators in the Pacific theater and the focal point that military service played in their identities. THE REGISTRY will be one of the last times that those who served in WWII will be able to connect with each other, as well as one of the last times we will directly hear the voices of those who served. This documentary is necessary viewing, at a moment when Americans are facing a new collective crisis in national identity. Anti-immigrant sentiment and government actions, such as President Trump’s orders that banned travel to the U.S. from Muslim-majority countries, echo events in America more than half a century ago.

You Don’t Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story

Dir. Jeff Adachi | 60  mins | 2009

The film tells Jack Soo's story through a montage of film and television clips, rare footage, interviews with family members, friends, co-workers, and others who knew him best. From his early appearances on programs such as The Jack Benny Show and Valentines' Day, Soo's life is examined both in the historical context of the times, and the grandeur of an earlier Hollywood where stars like Soo succeeded in a multitude of artistic mediums, reminiscent of vaudevillian times. From Soo's early training as an announcer and stand-up comic, to his singing, acting and dancing career on Broadway, culminating with his signature role as Detective Nick Yemana, Soo's unique talent and dedication to his craft are fully explored and captured through a dazzling kaleidoscope of images, music, montages, interviews and stories. Featured interview subjects include Nancy Kwan who was Soo's co-star in the film version of Broadway Flower Drum Song; Soo's co-stars on Barney Miller, Max Gail and Steve Landesberg; Hal Kanter, the creator and producer of Valentine's Day and George Takei, Soo's friend and co-star in The Green Berets. The film will also dig deep into Soo's past, including interviews with Soo's daughter and close friends, former Topaz internees, former Motown executive Al Abrams, and others who knew Soo at key points in his life and career.

Week 5: What is Citizenship?

Released on July 12, 2020

From a Silk Cocoon

Dir. Satsuki Ina, Emery Clay III, Stephen Holsapple | 100 mins | 2005

Labeled as "disloyal" and deemed "enemy aliens dangerous to the public peace and safety of the United States," a young Japanese American couple, held in separate American prison camps during WW II, struggle to prove their innocence and fight deportation. With the discovery of their actual letters, diaries, and haiku poetry, the story reveals the frightening and tragic outcome resulting from wartime hysteria and racial profiling. A story of love and survival, Shizuko and Itaru, renounce their American citizenship in protest and then must face the reality of raising their children in war-torn Japan.

Resistance at Tule Lake

Dir. Konrad Aderer | 78 mins | 2017

The dominant narrative of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans has been that they behaved as a “model minority,” that they cooperated without protest and proved their patriotism by enlisting in the Army. Resistance at Tule Lake, a new feature-length documentary from Third World Newsreel (Camera News Inc.) and directed by Japanese American filmmaker Konrad Aderer, overturns that myth by telling the long-suppressed story of Tule Lake Segregation Center.

A Vanished Dream: Wartime Story of My Japanese Grandfather

NHK | 50 mins | 2019

For Regina H. Boone (Photojournalist with The Richmond Free Press), her paternal grandfather was an enigma. He was a hard-working Japanese immigrant but was arrested on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack never to return home. Regina's father rarely spoke about him throughout his life. It was only 5 years ago on his deathbed that he asked Regina to find out the circumstances surrounding her grandfather's disappearance. This film follows her quest to uncover the trail of her missing Japanese grandfather.

Week 6: Resettlement

Released on July 19, 2020

Masters of Modern Design: The Art of the Japanese American Experience

Dir. Akira Boch | 56 mins | 2019

From the iconic typeface of “The Godfather” book cover to Herman Miller’s Noguchi table, the influence of Japanese American artists and designers in postwar American art and design is unparalleled. While this second generation of Japanese American artists have been celebrated in various publications and exhibitions with their iconic work, less-discussed are the effects of the WWII incarceration.

Relocation, Arkansas

Dir. Vivienne Schiffer | 81 mins | 2016

Relocation, Arkansas explores the effect of the Japanese American incarceration experience in Arkansas during WWII on the generation that was born after the camps closed, the unlikely tale of those Japanese Americans who remained behind, and the even more unlikely tale of how a small-town Arkansas mayor of Italian descent became a legend in the Japanese American community. But with its themes of the complexity and hypocrisy of race relations in America, journeys toward forgiveness and healing, and cross community understanding, the film transcends regional and cultural constraints unlike any other film on the incarceration experience.

Resettled Roots: Legacies of Japanese Americans in Chicago

Dirs. Anna Takada and Maria Pimentel | 33 min | 2019

The growth of Chicago’s thriving Japanese American community is detailed through an ongoing oral history project. Longtime residents call up memories that range from seeing family members taken away by the FBI after Pearl Harbor and growing up in the detention camps to present-day demonstrations spearheaded by a new generation of Japanese American activists.

Week 7: Nikkei Incarceration Abroad

Released on July 26, 2020

Don’t Lose Your Soul

Dir. Jim Choi and Chihiro Wimbush | 27 mins | 2012

An intimate portrait of two godfathers of the Asian American Jazz movement, drummer Anthony Brown and bassist Mark Izu. Forged in the Bay Area civil rights movements of the 60s and 70s and built on the history of Japanese internment, they fused centuries old Asian music traditions with the freedom of a quintessentially American musical form: jazz. Izu and Brown come together with a group of longtime musical friends for one electrifying night of music at Yoshi's jazz club, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Asian American Jazz festival and honor three decades of music they helped define for future generations.

Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story

Dir. Casey Peek | 27 mins | 2004

Hidden Internment is a 2004 documentary film about the life of Art Shibayama, a Japanese Peruvian who was forcibly taken from his home in Peru in 1944 when he was thirteen years old, and interned in a Department of Justice camp in Crystal City, Texas, for the duration of World War II. This film explores the lesser-known history of the Japanese Latin American detention, where over 2,000 Latin Americans were essentially kidnapped from their countries and interned in American government camps, to be used as political pawns between countries. Using first-person narrative and archival footage, the film shows how despite their traumatic experiences and wrongful treatment, Shibayama and other Latin Americans have been denied redress that was awarded to Japanese Americans in 1988 for their loss of civil liberties and forced wartime incarceration. 

Week 8: End of War to Redress

Released on August 2, 2020

Cruisin’ J-Town

Dir. Duane Kubo | 24 mins | 1975

In CRUISIN’ J-TOWN, the roots of the popular jazz fusion band Hiroshima are evident in the opening scenes of pre-redevelopment Little Tokyo. Against a vibrant backdrop of community gatherings, daily interaction with people of various backgrounds, and band rehearsals, the group members discuss the sociological and cultural pulse of the early 1970s. Dan Kuramoto describes the political movements of the 1960s out of which Asian American music and art emerged. June Kuramoto relates being ridiculed in her youth for playing the Japanese koto, while percussionist Johnny Mori delves into the influence of African American, Latino and rock music on his art. A revealing dialog between Dan Kuramoto and El Teatro Campesino’s Danny Valdez underscores the meaning of pan-ethnic unity, and a spirited, cross-cultural rendition of El Teatro Campersino’s “America de los Indios” closes the film on an inspiring note.

The Gate: A Pacific Journey

NHK | 49 mins | 2016

The huge earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan swept vast amounts of debris across the Pacific. Many objects reached the U.S. State of Oregon, including the crossbeams from the gates of a Shinto shrine dedicated to the safety of local villagers who depend on the sea. Thanks to the all-out efforts of people in America, those precious artifacts made the long journey home. The program tells the story of how this incredible homecoming formed bonds of friendship between people living an ocean apart.

…I Told You So

Dir. Alan Kondo | 18 mins | 1974

At turns pastoral and gritty, Alan Kondo’s memorable monochrome documentary brings to life the writings of Japanese American poet and professor Lawson Inada. Titled after one of his best-known poems, …I TOLD YOU SO follows Inada to Fresno, California for a sentimental journey to his childhood neighborhood. That Fresno, a panoply of urban blight — graffitied downtown walls, bars, the local Nisei Barber Shop, a skyline of factories belching smoke into the sky — contrasts with the Fresno of Mexican and African American schoolmates, familiar hometown haunts, and even local denizens as Inada’s own aunt, one of the subjects of his poems who asks, “All this identity thing. What is it you’re looking for?” Inada’s answer is contained in his poem, “Nightsongs in Asian America” inspired by author John Okada (NO-NO BOY); and in his active resistance to World War II incarceration and his relationship with his son.

Norman Mineta and His Legacy: An American Story

Dir. Dianne Fukami | 60 mins | 2018

A son of immigrants forced into a U.S. World War II concentration camp as a child, Norman Mineta became the first Asian American mayor of a major city (San Jose, California); enjoyed a distinguished 20-year career in Congress; was the first Asian American Cabinet member; served under two U.S. Presidents, a Democrat and Republican. Mineta never forgot his roots or the shame and humiliation he and his family felt during WWII and led the way for an apology from the U.S. government and redress for Japanese Americans. On September 11, 2001, his leadership as U.S. Secretary of Transportation would ensure that what happened to Japanese Americans during WWII did not happen to any other group based on ethnicity or religion.

Week 9: Reconciliation and Identity

Released on August 9, 2020

Changing Seasons: On the Masumoto Family Farm 

Dir. Jim Choi | 56 mins | 2015 

“How many harvests do you have in you?” is the perennial echo that reverberates across the Masumoto Family farm. Changing Season: On the Masumoto Family Farm chronicles a transitional year-in-the-life of famed farmer, slow food advocate, and sansei, David “Mas” Masumoto, and his compelling relationship with daughter Nikiko, who returns to the family farm with the intention of stepping into her father’s work boots. Mas’ hopes and hesitations for the future are shored up with his daughter’s return, as the family must navigate the implications of Mas’ 60th birthday and triple bypass surgery. The film is interspliced with moments of Nikiko’s razor sharp meditations on her family’s internment during WWII and her role as a queer, progressive farmer in the Central Valley.

One Big Hapa Family

Dir. Jeff Chiba Stearns | 85 mins | 2010

After a realization at a family reunion, Japanese-Canadian filmmaker, Jeff Chiba Stearns, embarks on a journey of self-discovery to find out why everyone in his Japanese-Canadian family married interracially after his grandparents’ generation. This feature live action and animated documentary explores why almost 100% of all Japanese-Canadians are marrying interracially, the highest out of any other ethnicity in Canada, and how their mixed children perceive their unique multiracial identities.

The stories from four generations of a Japanese-Canadian family come to life through the use of innovative animation techniques created by some of Canada’s top animators. Celebrating its 10th year anniversary this year, One Big Hapa Family challenges our perceptions of racial purity and makes us question if mixing is the end of multiculturalism as we know it.

One Big Hapa Family is available for purchase on DVD at www.meditatingbunny.com/store