Browse > Genre > Documentary
262 articles
Medal of Honor (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Heroism - real and perceived
- Widely available
Short video on the twenty-one Japanese American recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor , produced by the Go For Broke National Education Center and that features footage from June 21, 2000 ceremony at which twenty of the medals were awarded.
Meeting at Tule Lake (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Power of the past, Evils of racism, Injustice
- Limited availability
Documentary film produced and directed by Scott T. Tsuchitani that features interviews with seven former Tule Lake inmates talking about life in the camp, the "loyalty questionnaire" and segregation, and the importance of remembering, intercut with footage of poet Hiroshi Kashiwagi reading the title poem and of a Tule Lake Pilgrimage. Meeting at Tule Lake was produced by the Tule Lake Committee for the 1994 Tule Lake Pilgrimage.
Memories of Place: Clarksburg's Japanese Language School (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary, History
- Importance of community, Working class struggles
- Widely available
Short documentary film on the Holland Union Gakuen ( Japanese language school ) in Clarksburg, California.
Memories of the Camps (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Circle of life, Power of the past, Injustice
- Limited availability
Locally produced documentary by Los Angeles TV station KABC that provides an overview of the concentration camps and community efforts to remember them on their fiftieth anniversary. Hosted by KABC news anchor Joanne Ishimine, the program begins at Heart Mountain where former inmate and camp historian Bacon Sakatani gives a tour of the camp and talks about his experience and the larger impact of incarceration. The next segment is on Manzanar , focusing on Toyo Miyatake and his photographs, featuring an interview with his son Archie. The last segments focus on the commemoration of the camps: a visit to a UCLA class that Sakatani speaks to and interviews with the students; some of those same students at the 50th anniversary Manzanar Pilgrimage ; and visits to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and Japanese American National Museum in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. A copy of the …
The Merced Assembly Center: Injustice Immortalized (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Power of the past, Injustice, Importance of community
- Widely available
Documentary film on Japanese Americans from Central California who were incarcerated at the Merced Assembly Center and the effort nearly sixty years later to build a memorial at the site. Produced by the Merced Assembly Center Commemorative Committee, the film was funded in large part by a grant from the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.
Minidoka (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Dangers of ignorance, Injustice, Knowledge versus ignorance, Power of the past
- Widely available
Documentary film that follows Seattle-based activist Joseph Shoji Lachman to the 2017 Minidoka Pilgrimage, documenting discussions with his family about the trip, the bus ride and touring the site. Excerpts from the CWRIC testimony of Samuel T. Shoji, Lachman's great uncle, that illuminate aspects of his family history are also included. Lachman notes the parallels with Trump era policies and his anger at both the World War II incarceration and current events.
Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Evils of racism, Importance of community, Power of the past
- Widely available
Documentary film on Minidoka that serves as the orientation film at the Minidoka National Historic Site. Narrated by George Takei and featuring interviews with Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at Minidoka, the film covers the prewar Japanese American community, the mass forced removal of Japanese Americans in 1942, life at Minidoka, the "loyalty questionnaire," the 442nd Regimental Combat Team , the closing of the camp in 1945 and the return home, the Redress movement , and the importance of remembering the incarceration story.
MIS: Human Secret Weapon (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Heroism – real and perceived, Role of men, Vulnerability of the strong, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Widely available
Feature length documentary film on the history of Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) during World War II. Written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Junichiro Suzuki, MIS: Human Secret Weapon is the third film in Suzuki's trilogy of documentaries on Japanese Americans during World War II.
Mission in Manila: The Sakakida Story (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Facing darkness, Forgiveness, Heroism – real and perceived, Will to survive
- Limited availability
Documentary film that tells the story of Richard Sakakida , a Nisei intelligence agent in the Philippines who is captured and tortured by the Japanese during World War II and who confronts—and forgives—his torturers after the war. The film is based almost entirely on an interview with Sakakida, augmented by narrator Jerry Kay, archival footage and family photographs, and illustrations by Roberta Twidwell. The 28-minute film was produced by the Military Intelligence Service and the National Japanese American Historical Society for the Military Intelligence Service Fellowship Program.
Mitsuye and Nellie: Asian American Poets (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Expression through art, Female roles, Power of words, Role of women
- Available
One of the earliest documentaries to broach the topic of Japanese American wartime incarceration, Mitsuye and Nellie profiles Asian American poets Mitsuye Yamada and Nellie Wong, showing them reading their poetry, meeting their family and visiting the Minidoka and Angel Island sites.
Most Honorable Son (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary, Biography
- War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy, Heroism - real or perceived
- Available
Documentary film that profiles Nisei war hero Ben Kuroki , tracing his life from his Nebraska childhood, his fight to be allowed to serve in the military after the attack on Pearl Harbor, his bombing missions over Europe and Japan, and his visits to American concentration camps in which Japanese Americans were held. Kuroki tells much of the story in his own words, which are augmented by many interviews with crew members who flew with him in both Europe and Japan. In addition to archival footage and photographs, the filmmakers also film reenactments of a few key episodes. Among the incidents highlighted are the dramatic raid on the Ploesti oilfields in what is now Romania, one of Kuroki's last missions in Europe; his speech before the Commonweath Club in San Francisco upon his return; and his visit to the Heart Mountain concentration camp of which inmates Eiichi Sakauye, Jack Tono, …
Moving Walls: American Nightmare to American Dream (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary, History
- Power of the past, Working class struggles
- Widely available
Documentary film about the enduring impact of the Heart Mountain , Wyoming, concentration camp—in particular, its surviving barracks—on both the local Wyoming population and on Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated there.
Mr. Tanimoto's Journey (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Individual versus society, Injustice, Power of the past
- Widely available
Documentary film about Gridley, California, farmer and former Tule Lake inmate Jim Tanimoto that focuses on his wartime incarceration and on the postwar memory of that time. The film is built around interviews with Tanimoto and footage of him at his farm and at a Tule Lake Pilgrimage, along with interviews with his daughter and granddaughter. Tanimoto and his family went to Tule Lake directly in July 1942 and were placed in Block 42. He was among the many inmates in that block who resisted filling out the loyalty questionnaire and were subsequently imprisoned and held for a time at Camp Tulelake , a former CCC camp. He was eventually allowed to return to Tule Lake and then returned to Gridley in 1945, where he nonetheless faced a great deal of discrimination from locals. Tanimoto and his family also talk about the postwar silence about the incarceration, redress , and …
Ruth Asawa: A Community Artist (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Expression through art, Power of the past
- Widely available
Short documentary film on artist Ruth Asawa by Dianne Fukami. Produced as part of a follow-up project to the creation of the "Garden of Remembrance" at San Francisco State University, the documentary highlights Asawa's role in the garden and documents some of her other public art in San Francisco.
Ruth Asawa: Of Forms and Growth (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Expression through art, Nature as beauty, Role of women
- Available
Documentary profile of Nisei artist Ruth Asawa produced and directed by Robert Snyder. Of Forms and Growth includes footage of Asawa at home, in her garden and at work, and features the artist talking about her artistic influences and techniques. In particular, she highlights the influence of artists Joseph Albers and Buckminster Fuller, and the film includes footage of Asawa and Fuller. She goes on to talk about the various media she has worked with, including ink and oil paintings, wire and paper sculptures, and sculptures made from baker's clay. The film also explores Asawa's community work, particularly in establishing art programs in schools as well as a community arts festival. Photographer Imogen Cunningham talks about photographing Asawa and her family and about Asawa's marriage to Albert Lanier. Asawa's early life—including her wartime incarceration—is covered only briefly, and her later work that is influenced by Japanese American history is not …
Nisei Soldier: Standard Bearer for an Exiled People (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Patriotism - positive side or complications, Injustice, Heroism - real or perceived
- Limited availability
Influential documentary film by Loni Ding that was the first of many to specifically focus on the story of Japanese Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II.
Nisei Stories of Wartime Japan (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Displacement, Facing darkness, Nationalism – complications, Self-preservation
- Widely available
Documentary film by Mary McDonald and Thomas McDonald Mazawa that tells the story of Nisei who were trapped in Japan during World War II based on interviews with ten such Nisei.
Of Civil Wrongs and Rights: The Fred Korematsu Story (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
- Available
Documentary film by Eric Paul Fournier that chronicles the story of American civil rights hero, Fred Korematsu , whose refusal to obey orders prohibiting Japanese Americans from remaining on the West Coast led to a landmark Supreme Court case .
Ohakamairi: A Visit to the Graves (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Isolation, Power of tradition, Reunion
- No availability
Short documentary student film by Janice D. Tanaka that focuses on the annual pilgrimages to Manzanar made by Buddhist Rev. Sentoku Maeda. Shot in 16mm black and white while a student at the University of Southern California (USC), Tanaka's film lets Maeda tell his story in his own voice, accompanied by historical photos and footage of Maeda at the Manzanar site. Incarcerated at Manzanar as a young man, he recalls the Buddhist services held there despite administrative opposition. He talks about the "I-re-to" memorial and his promise to visit the graves at Manzanar once the war is over. For the next twenty plus years, he came back to perform memorial services, sometimes alone. The film ends with his recognition of the "young people" who have turned his lonely pilgrimage into a community event starting in 1969.
9066 to 9/11: America’s Concentration Camps Then… and Now? (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Dangers of ignorance, Evils of racism, Wisdom of experience
- Limited availability
A 2004 documentary film directed by Akira Boch that looks at the World War II expulsion of Japanese Americans into American concentration camps through the contemporary lens of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Immediately following the attacks, there was an instant public backlash against Arab Americans and Muslims. As the United States government fought a "war on terrorism" with no end in sight, its tactics and policies were noticeably reminiscent of the rhetoric and immediate steps taken that led to the mass incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II. The film draws comparisons between the Japanese and Muslim American experiences, provoking questions about immigration, patriotism, equality and the civil rights and liberties of all American citizens, especially during times of national emergency.
Nebraska's Nisei (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Importance of community
- Available
Documentary film produced by the University of Nebraska that tells the story of three Nisei from Heart Mountain who left camp to attend the University of Nebraska through the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council during World War II. The three are Pat Sano, Marie Yamashita Snell, and Tom Shiokari. The story is told through interviews, historical photographs, and unidentified home movie type footage of Heart Mountain. No credits are listed for the production of the film. A nine minute version is available on the University of Nebraska's YouTube channel.
Never Give Up!: Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Biography, Documentary
- Convention and rebellion, Heroism – real and perceived, Individual versus society, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
- Widely available
Documentary film on the life of Minoru Yasui (1916–86) made by his daughter, Holly Yasui.
Nikkei Style (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Change versus tradition, Importance of community, Power of tradition, Quest for discovery
- Limited availability
Personal essay on being Japanese American by Sansei filmmaker Steven Okazaki , narrated in his first person voice. Beginning his journey at a family mochizuki event in Oxnard, California, he explores his family history, taking us to the house he grew up in in Venice, California, and telling us what he knows of his mother's and father's families, including their World War II incarceration (his mother went to Santa Anita , then Amache , his father to Heart Mountain ) and featuring a brief interview with his mother. In search of more information about his father's side, he goes to Japan to visit a distant cousin and to Hawai'i to visit one of his father's old army buddies, from whom he learns much. The film ends with footage from various bon dances in Hawai'i and the continental U.S, which Okazaki cites as a living symbol of being Japanese American. Along …
The Music Man of Manzanar (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Expression through art, Optimism – power or folly, Power of the past
- Widely available
A short documentary film by Brian Tadashi Maeda about Lou Frizzell, who came to the World War II American concentration camp at Manzanar to teach drama and music to the Japanese American high school students who were imprisoned there. The film includes interviews with his former students, who were inspired by Frizell's ability to help the students temporarily forget their circumstances and lose themselves to the beauty and power of music and the joy of being young. The film also includes re-enactments of Manzanar High students performing parts of Frizzell's operetta Loud and Clear . The second half of the film turns its attention to Arnold Maeda, the filmmaker's older brother and a student of Frizzell's who performed in Loud and Clear ; we attend a 2002 ceremony at Santa Monica High School in which Maeda and other Japanese American students receive the diplomas they were denied by the mass …
My Friends Behind Barbed Wire (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary, History
- Heroism – real and perceived, Individual versus society
- Widely available
Short film that tells the story of the Rev. Emery Andrews , pastor of the Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle, and his family and their support of Japanese Americans during their World War II ordeal. The story is largely told through an interview with Brooks Andrews, Emery's son, and through historical photographs, including images from the Andrews family. Brooks provides an overview of the forced removal and incarceration and his childhood recollections of his Nisei friends being taken away. He also recounts the Andrews' family's move to Twin Falls, Idaho, so as to continue to serve the congregation that had been incarcerated at the nearby Minidoka concentration camp and the discrimination they faced from the local community. He also cites parallels to the contemporary treatment of Muslim Americans.