Honouliuli: Hawai'i's Hidden Internment Camp (film)

Documentary short film on the Honouliuli Internment Camp in central Ō'ahu produced by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i. Interviews and other footage from this film were later incorporated into a broader documentary film, The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans in Hawai'i . Ryan Kawamoto wrote, directed, and edited both films.

In the original 2009–10 version, Honouliuli tells its story largely through the experiences of two Nisei internees, Sam Nishimura and Harry Urata. Nishimura's daughters recall their family's life before the war in Haleiwa and the shock and impact of their father's internment. Urata, one of the few Honouliuli internees still alive in the 2000s, talks about his arrest and subsequent detention. The last part of the film includes footage of a 2008 pilgrimage to Honouliuli, the first such gathering at the site since the war. The public debut of an eleven-minute version took place at the 2010 Honolulu Day of Remembrance . A seven-minute version is available on YouTube.

A later and longer (17 minute) version produced in 2012 incorporates additional scenes shot for The Untold Story documentary, including reenactment footage of Nishimura's and Urata's experiences, additional interview footage with another former Honouliuli internee, Jack Tasaka, and footage and interviews of archeological surveys of the camps. This later version is included on The Untold Story DVD.

Funding for Honouliuli came from grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations program and the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program, National Park Service. The 2012 version also received additional funding from the Island Insurance Foundation, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and Japanese American Citizens League , Honolulu Chapter.

Might also like Justice Betrayed (1992); Ganbare Don't Give Up! (1994); The First Battle: The Battle for Equality in War-Time Hawaii (2006)