Those Who Helped Us (film)

Simply animated story set in Minidoka told in the first-person voice of a young Nisei girl named Sumi that highlights the role that key white supporters in and out of the concentration camps played in aiding Japanese Americans. After noting the deprivations Nikkei faced in the early months at Minidoka, Sumi notes the presence of Reverend Andy ( Emery Andrews ), who had come to minister to his flock all the way from Seattle. Later, she highlights the role played by Thomas Bodine of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council and Father Leopold Tibesar in helping Sumi's older sister, Yuri, leave Minidoka to attend college in Philadelphia. The black and white animation turns to color as Yuri leaves camp. After the main story, author Ken Mochizuki provides brief profiles of Andrews, Bodine, and Tibesar, along with Minidoka Education Superintendent Arthur Kleinkopf and Deaconess Margaret Peppers, both of whom are also portrayed in the film.

Those Who Helped Us was based on a graphic novel of the same name written by Ken Mochizuki and illustrated by Kiku Hughes. The project was funded in large part by a grant from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program in 2017 for $148,764 to the Wing Luke Memorial Foundation in partnership with Seattle Nisei Veterans Committee Foundation to produce the graphic novel along with curriculum resources, an animated video short, and a website.

Might also like Act of Faith: The Rev. Emery Andrews Story (2015); Leap of Faith: How Enmanji Temple Was Saved (2010); Enduring Democracy: The Monterey Petition (2021)