We Hereby Refuse: The Akutsu Family Resists (film)
Simply animated story focusing on the Akutsu family, told in Nisei Jim Akutsu's first-person voice, starting with the arrest of his father after the attack on Pearl Harbor, his internment and interrogation, Jim's unsuccessful attempts to enlist, and the family's subsequent removal to Puyallup . In between the Akutsu family story are scenes of Japanese American Citizens League leaders Mike Masaoka and James Sakamoto cooperating with government officials to facilitate the roundup. The story was adapted from the book We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura, with the animation based on Ross Ishikawa's artwork for the book.
We Hereby Refuse: The Akutsu Family Resists debuted on local television on the Seattle Channel on December 18, 2023, as part of the "Community Stories" series.
Might also like Conscience and the Constitution (2000); Yamashita (2013); Those Who Helped Us (2022)
| Release Date | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 14 minutes |
| Producer | Shannon Gee |
| Writer | Frank Abe |
| Starring | Joe Reilly (Jim Akutsu), Randy Eng (Kiyonosuke Akutsu and Gene Akutsu), Kyoko Matsumoto Wright (Nao Akutsu), Derek Wing (Mike Masaoka), Norm Ohashi (James Sakamoto), Jeff Renner (Milton Eisenhower), Cliff McCloe (Rep. John Rankin and Leland Ford), Ian Devier (Col. Carl Bendetsen and Earl Warren) |
| Music | Stephen Thomas Cavit |
| Editing | Randy Eng |
For More Information
Streaming link at the Seattle Channel
Abe, Frank. " New Animation Puts Drawings of 'We Hereby Refuse' Into Motion. " Resisters.com, Dec. 18, 2023.