American (film)

Short narrative film starring George Takei as a Nisei veteran and Japanese American National Museum docent named Clinton Nakamoto. While on duty one day at the museum, he meets a woman with a young daughter and starts to give them a tour. The woman mentions that her grandfather had fought in the "422" and shows Clinton a picture of him on her phone. The picture sends Clinton back to the 1942, recalling his anger at the forced removal and later of serving in the 442nd with the grandfather, who was killed in the rescue of the Lost Battalion . He takes her to visit the Go for Broke memorial, where they find his name on it. On the way home on the bus, he strikes up a friendship with a young Muslim boy.

A Louisiana based filmmaker of two prior feature films and a designer of movie title sequences, Richie Adams learned about the story of the 442nd through family lore. Adams co-wrote the screenplay with Bart Gavigan and enlisting Ken and Elizabeth Reiko Kubota Whitney as executive producers. It turned out that Kubota Whitney's parents had lived in the same Rohwer block as George Takei's family and that her mother, Florence Kubota, had been Takei's father's secretary when he was block manager at Rohwer. Takei read and liked the script and agreed to do the film. Shooting took place in Los Angeles in July 2017. The garrison cap and medals used in the movie were lent by 442nd veteran Don Seki, who also makes a cameo appearance in the film. Completed in January 2018, American premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival in March 2018. ^[1]

Might also like Only the Brave (2006); Forgotten Valor (2001); Honor Bound: A Personal Journey (1995)