{"id":"Baseball Behind Barbed Wire (film)","doctype":"articles","links":{"html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/Baseball%20Behind%20Barbed%20Wire%20(film)/","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/articles/Baseball%20Behind%20Barbed%20Wire%20(film)/"},"title_sort":"baseballbehindbarbedwirefilm","description":"Documentary film on baseball in camp with a particular focus on the story of Issei baseball pioneer\n \n Kenichi Zenimura\n \n and\n \n Gila River\n \n . Filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer builds the story around interviews with Nisei Baseball Research Project Director Kerry Yo Nakagawa and Zenimura biographer Bill Staples, Jr., along with archival interviews with Tets Furukawa and Howard Kenso Zenimura, two Nisei who played under Zenimura, the latter interviews being augmented by Sabina Kariat's animation.","rg_rgmediatype":["films"],"mediatype_label":"Films and Video","mediatype_icon":"fa-film","rg_interestlevel":["Grades 7-8","Grades 9-12","Adult"],"rg_genre":["Documentary"],"rg_theme":["Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice","Power of the past","Role of men"],"rg_availability":["Widely available"],"categories":[{"title":"Arts"}],"topics":[],"authors":[{"title":"Brian Niiya","json":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/api/3.0/authors/Brian%20Niiya/","html":"https://resourceguide.densho.org/authors/Brian%20Niiya/"}],"sources":[],"title":"Baseball Behind Barbed Wire (film)","published_rg":true,"modified":"2024-10-09T20:32:41","databoxes":{"rgdatabox-Core":{"rgmediatype":["films"],"title":["Baseball Behind Barbed Wire"],"creators":[],"interestlevel":["Grades 7-8","Grades 9-12","Adult"],"readinglevel":[],"guidedreadinglevel":[],"lexile":[],"theme":["Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice","Power of the past","Role of men"],"genre":["Documentary"],"pov":["Told largely from perspective of Nisei Baseball Research Project Director Kerry Yo Nakagawa"],"relatedevents":[],"availability":["Widely available"],"freewebversion":["No"],"primarysecondary":[],"hasteachingaids":["No"],"warnings":[],"denshotopic":[],"geography":[],"chronology":["1940s"],"facility":["Gila River [3] - Rivers, Arizona"]},"databox-Films":{"title":["Baseball Behind Barbed Wire"],"date":["2023"],"genre":["Documentary"],"released":[],"director":["Yuriko Gamo Romer"],"producer":["Yuriko Gamo Romer","Marc Smolowitz"],"writer":["Yuriko Gamo Romer","Shirley Thompson"],"screenplay":[],"story":[],"basedon":[],"narrator":[],"starring":["Kerry Yo Nakagawa (interviewee)","Bill Staples, Jr. (interviewee)","Tets Furukawa (interviewee)","Howard Kenso Zenimura (interviewee)"],"music":["Derek Nakamoto"],"cinematography":["Andrew Black"],"editing":["Shirley Thompson"],"studio":["Flying Carp Productions","Center for Independent Documentary","Nisei Baseball Research Project"],"distributor":[],"runtime":["34 minutes"],"country":[],"language":[],"budget":[],"gross":[],"imdblink":["https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26742384/"],"trailerlink":[]}},"rg_title":["Baseball Behind Barbed Wire"],"rg_pov":["Told largely from perspective of Nisei Baseball Research Project Director Kerry Yo Nakagawa"],"rg_freewebversion":["No"],"rg_chronology":["1940s"],"rg_hasteachingaids":["No"],"body":"
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\n RGMediaType:films;\nTitle:Baseball Behind Barbed Wire;\nCreators:;\nInterestLevel:Grades 7-8; Grades 9-12; Adult;\nReadingLevel:;\nGuidedReadingLevel:;\nLexile:;\nTheme:Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice; Power of the past; Role of men;\nGenre:Documentary;\nPoV:Told largely from perspective of Nisei Baseball Research Project Director Kerry Yo Nakagawa;\nRelatedEvents:;\nAvailability:Widely available;\nFreeWebVersion:No;\nPrimarySecondary:;\nHasTeachingAids:No;\nWarnings:;\nDenshoTopic:;\nGeography:;\nChronology:1940s;\nFacility:Gila River [3] - Rivers, Arizona;\n

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\n Title:Baseball Behind Barbed Wire;\nDate:2023; \nGenre:Documentary;\nReleased:;\nDirector:Yuriko Gamo Romer;\nProducer:Yuriko Gamo Romer; Marc Smolowitz;\nWriter:Yuriko Gamo Romer; Shirley Thompson;\nScreenplay:;\nStory:;\nBasedOn:;\nNarrator:;\nStarring:Kerry Yo Nakagawa (interviewee); Bill Staples, Jr. (interviewee); Tets Furukawa (interviewee); Howard Kenso Zenimura (interviewee);\nMusic:Derek Nakamoto;\nCinematography:Andrew Black;\nEditing:Shirley Thompson;\nStudio:Flying Carp Productions; Center for Independent Documentary; Nisei Baseball Research Project;\nDistributor:;\nRuntime:34 minutes;\nCountry:;\nLanguage:;\nBudget:;\nGross:;\nIMDBLink:\n \n https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26742384/\n \n ;\nTrailerLink:;\n

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\n Documentary film on baseball in camp with a particular focus on the story of Issei baseball pioneer\n \n Kenichi Zenimura\n \n and\n \n Gila River\n \n . Filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer builds the story around interviews with Nisei Baseball Research Project Director Kerry Yo Nakagawa and Zenimura biographer Bill Staples, Jr., along with archival interviews with Tets Furukawa and Howard Kenso Zenimura, two Nisei who played under Zenimura, the latter interviews being augmented by Sabina Kariat's animation.\n

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\n Filmmaker Romer formed Flying Carp Productions in 1998. Her prior documentaries have included\n \n Occidental Encounters\n \n (1998), on Japanese American interracial marriages and\n \n Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful\n \n (2013), on judo pioneer Keiko Fukuda. While making a feature length documentary titled\n \n Diamond Diplomacy\n \n , Romer came across the story of Japanese American baseball in the concentration camps and began separately making\n \n Baseball Behind Barbed Wire\n \n in 2020. Funding from the film came from the\n \n Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program\n \n , the\n \n California Civil Liberties Public Education Program\n \n , the Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, Nisei Baseball Research Project, Nancy P. and Richard K. Robbins Family Foundation, and Brown Girls Doc Mafia's Feedback Loop Program.\n

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\n \n Authored by\n \n Brian Niiya\n \n , Densho\n \n
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\n Niiya, Brian\n
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\n Might also like\n \n \n Diamonds in the Rough: Zeni and the Legacy of Japanese-American Baseball\n \n \n (1999);\n \n \n American Pastime\n \n \n (2007);\n \n \n Day of Independence\n \n \n (2003)\n

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\n Official website:\n \n https://www.diamonddiplomacy.com/baseball-behind-barbed-wire\n \n

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\n Filmmaker website:\n \n https://www.flyingcarp.net/\n \n

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\n Kashiwagi, Soji. \"Playing America's pastime in camp is the focus of 'Baseball Behind Barbed Wire.'\"\n \n Nichi Bei News\n \n , Feb. 15–28, 2024, 11.\n

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\n Kato, Kristopher. \"\n \n The Making and Evolution of Yuriko Gamo Romer's Baseball Documentaries:\n \n Diamond Diplomacy\n \n and\n \n Baseball Behind Barbed Wire\n \n .\n \n \" Discover Nikkei, May 15, 2024.\n

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