Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp (film)
Hour-long documentary on the Minidoka , Idaho, concentration camp adapted from the half-hour version used as the orientation film at the Minidoka National Historic Site. Betrayed aired nationally on public television stations in April 2022.
Betrayed tells the story of Minidoka in largely chronological fashion. After an introductory section on the first Day of Remembrance in 1978, the story begins with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent arrest of Issei community leaders, followed by the run up to Executive Order 9066 , the story of Bainbridge Island , preparations for forced removal, the Puyallup and Portland Assembly Centers, arrival at Minidoka and living conditions there, the " loyalty questionnaire " and its consequences, and resettlement and leaving Minidoka. The last third of the film focuses on the legacy of Minidoka: silence and multi- generational trauma, the redress movement , and Japanese American activism after 9/11 and the 2016 election. The story is largely told through interviews with Japanese American former inmates—though most were children at the time of their incarceration—and narrated by Tamlyn Tomita. Some older interview clips are also used.
Core funding for the film came from a 2018 grant to the Friends of Minidoka from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program for $247,716. Additional funding came from the Freeman Foundation and the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation. North Shore Productions was contracted to make the film, which was directed by Rory Banyard and written by Sarah Kass.
Might also like The Idaho Homefront: Of Camps and Combat (2007); Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp (2019); Bearing the Unbearable (film)| Bearing the Unbearable (2019).
| Release Date | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 57 minutes |
| Director | Rory Banyard |
| Producer | Josh Banyard |
| Writer | Sarah Kass |
| Narrator | Tamlyn Tomita |
| Starring | Frank Chin (interviewee), Mike Ishii (interviewee), Rev. Paul Nagano (event speaker), George Nakata (interviewee), Lilly Kitamoto Kodama (interviewee), Clarence Moriwaki (interviewee), Lawrence Matsuda (interviewee), Anna Tamura (interviewee), Harriet Miyasato Beleal (interviewee), Mary Tanaka Abo (interviewee), Tom Ikeda (interviewee), Yoneko Hara (interviewee), Kay Sakai Nakao (interviewee), Frank Yamasaki (interviewee), Frank Abe (interviewee), Natalie Hayashida Ong (interviewee), Fumiko Hayashida (interviewee), Debbie Kashino (interviewee), Fujiko Tamura Gardner (interviewee), Paul Tomita (interviewee), Sharon Tanagi Aburano (interviewee), Karen Hirai Olen (interviewee), Louise Kashino (interviewee), Joni Teruko Kimoto (interviewee), Jim Akutsu (interviewee), Gene Akutsu (interviewee), Satsuki Ina (interviewee), Diana Morita Cole (interviewee), Frank Kitamoto (interviewee), Allan Hida (event speaker), Monica Sone (event speaker), Kay Fukuma (interviewee), Jeff Gersh (voice actor), Tom Chantler (voice actor) |
| Music | Sherri Chung |
| Cinematography | Bradley Sellers |
| Editing | Josh Banyard |
| Studio | North Shore Productions |
| IMDB Link | https://m.imdb.com/title/tt20235232/ |