Oregon's Japanese Americans: Beyond the Wire (film)
Documentary film on Japanese Americans in Oregon that largely focuses on the wartime incarceration and aftermath. Part of the Oregon Experience series, it was produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting in partnership with the Oregon Historical Society.
After a broad overview of the story, the film spends its first quarter on the prewar period, noting Japanese migration, settlement in Portland and in rural areas and growing communities, with a focus on the Yasui family of Hood River. The middle sections of the film provide a broad overview of the wartime forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans, while noting Oregon-specific storylines including the travails of Japanese Americans in Hood River , Min Yasui 's legal challenge, and Oregon Nikkei in Minidoka and Tule Lake . A segment on Nikkei who moved to the Ontario, Oregon, area tells another uniquely Oregon story. The final segments look at the return to Portland, the rebuilding of lives after the war, the Redress Movement . In addition to interviews and historical photographs and footage, the film uses animation and voiceovers to tell its story.
Might also like Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice (2017); Family Gathering (1988); Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp. (2022)
| Release Date | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 66 minutes |
| Producer | Nadine Jelsing |
| Writer | Nadine Jelsing |
| Narrator | Cathy Kiyomura |
| Starring | Henry Sakamoto (interviewee), Lawson Fusao Inada (interviewee), George Nakata (interviewee), Yoji Matsushima (interviewee), Linda Tamura (interviewee), Taka Mizote (interviewee), Reid K. Saito (interviewee), Shige Imai (interviewee), Bessie Asai (interviewee), Holly Yasui (interviewee), Homer Yasui (interviewee), Peggy Nagae (interviewee), Aya Fujii (interviewee), Matthew Stringer (interviewee), Janet Takami Koda (interviewee), Sumi Wada Saito (interviewee), Nan Nagasaka (interviewee), Angela Sutton (interviewee), Mari Watanabe (interviewee), John Murakami (interviewee), Joan Laurence (interviewee), Chisao Hata (interviewee), Bob Husky (interviewee), Dan Evans (additional voice), Lisa K. Miyamoto (additional voice), Ivalle Noel (additional voice), Yuki Sugahara (additional voice), Steven Tonthat (additional voice), Chris Zier (additional voice) |
| Cinematography | Greg Bond |
| Editing | Dan Evans |
| Studio | Oregon Public Broadcasting in partnership with the Oregon Historical Society |
| IMDB Link | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10900198/ |