Act of Faith: The Rev. Emery Andrews Story (film)

Documentary film on Rev. Emery Andrews , a Baptist priest who went beyond the call of duty to aid Japanese Americans from Seattle incarcerated at the Minidoka , Idaho, concentration camp.

Act of Faith begins with a brief overview of the forced removal and incarceration and of Andrews' prewar life as the pastor of the Seattle Japanese Baptist Church. With the forced incarceration of his congregation, Andrews first helps Japanese Americans—including those not a part of his church—store their possessions in his church, then takes the extraordinary step of moving his family to Twin Falls, Idaho, to further assist them. He made frequent trips by car to and from Seattle to bring requested items to the incarcerated Japanese Americans and opened his home up to visitors and to former inmates leaving Minidoka, all while facing hostility from some townspeople for his actions. His devotion to Japanese Americans leads to the breakup of his marriage. The second half of the film turns to the story of Rev. Andrews' son, Brooks, five years old when the war breaks out. Angered as a youth by the seeming neglect by his parents, he began to hate the Japanese Americans whom he saw as the beneficiaries of the love and attention he himself craved. But over the course of time, he comes to embrace his father's legacy and comes full circle to become the pastor at his father's old church.

Filmmaker Janice D. Tanaka tells the story of Andrews using interviews, historic photos, and an audio-only oral history that features Andrews' own voice. She also uses actors to read letters inmates wrote to Andrews during the war. The film was one of several on Japanese American history financed by Nitto Tire Company.

Might also like My Friends Behind Barbed Wire (2008); Leap of Faith: How Enmanji Temple Was Saved (2010); When You're Smiling: The Deadly Legacy of Internment (1999)