Silent Sacrifice: Stories of Japanese-American Incarceration in Central California and Beyond (film)
Sprawling documentary film on the wartime incarceration story of Japanese Americans from Central California, focusing on the experiences at the Fresno , Pinedale , Merced , and Tulare Assembly Centers. In addition to interviews with survivors and descendants, there are many brief silent reenactments of scenes describes by the narrators. The last quarter of the film focuses on Saburo and Marion Masada's pilgrimage to the Jerome and Rohwer sites, where Saburo had been incarcerated with his family as a child.
Silent Sacrifice was produced by ValleyPBS of Fresno, California. Executive Producer Elizabeth Laval came up with the concept for the film and with her staff was able to secure grants from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program ($373,716 awarded in 2016) and California Civil Liberties Public Education Program ($100,000, awarded in 2017). Other major funders included The Larry & Alice Kitahara Foundation, Nisei Farmers League, and Sun-Maid Growers of California. ValleyPBS contracted Jeff Aiello and his company 18Thirty Entertainment to produce the film. It premiered on Fresno PBS on February 22, 2018. In 2019, it won a Northern California Area Emmy Award for "Outstanding Achievement for Documentary Cultural/Historical." [1]
Might also like And Then They Came for Us (2017); The Merced Assembly Center: Injustice Immortalized (2012); Democracy Under Pressure: Japanese Americans and World War II (2000)
Footnotes
- ↑ John Sammon, "PBS Film to Chronicle WWII Freedom Loss for Valley Japanese Americans," Nikkei West , https://nikkeiwest.com/pbs-film-to-chronicle-wwii-freedom-loss-for-valley-japanese-americans/ ; "Valley PBS Wins Two Emmy Awards," ValleyPBS press release, June 18, 2019 https://valleypbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/VALLEY-PBS-EMMY-Press-Release-F2.pdf , both accessed on September 18, 2023.
Release Date | 2018 |
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Runtime | 117 minutes |
Director | Jeff Aiello |
Producer | Elizabeth Laval (executive producer) |
Writer | Jeff Aiello |
Narrator | Brynn Saito |
Starring | Saburo Masuda (interviewee), Kerry Yo Nakagawa (interviewee), Mel Kaji (interviewee), Franklin Ng (interviewee), Robert Shintaku (interviewee), Sherman Kishi (interviewee), Ruth Katsura (interviewee), Kiyo Sato (interviewee), Midori Tani (interviewee), Mine Matsumoto-Ikeda (interviewee), Bernadette Johnson (interviewee), Marion Masada (interviewee), Dale Ikeda (interviewee), Robbie Wong (Young Sherman Kishi), Kylie Kubo (Young Marion Masada), Kelly Aoki (Young Mine Matsumoto (Ikeda)), Jenna Aoki (Rosie Masuda), Tatsumi Arakawa (Masato Shintaku), Koji Arakawa (Young Saburo Masada), Halle Sembritzki (Young Kiyo Sato), Rev. Akiko Miyake-Stoner (Young Rose Nakagawa) |
Music | Art Music Library |
Cinematography | Jeff Aiello |
Editing | Jeff Aiello |
Studio | 18Thirty Entertainment |
For More Information
Official website and streaming link: https://valleypbs.org/sacrifice/ .