Browse > Media Type > Films and Video
330 articles
Nisei Bowl (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Importance of community, Power of the past, Wisdom of experience
- Widely available
Documentary about the denizens of a Nisei senior bowling league in Salt Lake City. While the first half is a lighthearted look at the league and the role it plays in the lives of the members, the second half delves into the origins of the league in the context of the Japanese American community in Salt Lake City, many of whom resettled there out of concentration camps, as well as the exclusion of Japanese Americans from American Bowling Congress sponsored leagues after the war.
Fugetsu-Do (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Capitalism – effect on the individual, Change versus tradition, Importance of community
- Widely available
Documentary film on the Fugetsu-Do Japanese confectionery shop in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, narrated by third-generation proprietor Brian Kito. Kito discusses the history of the shop that was founded in 1903 by his grandparents, the decision to take over the shop from his Nisei father, his trials and tribulations as the shop owner, the different kinds of manju and mochigashi the store carries, and the hopes for the future of the shop now that his son has expressed a desire to take it over one day. The film also explores the Kito family's wartime incarceration at Heart Mountain and its long-term impact. Filmmaker Kaia Rose shot the film at the shop itself and at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center , sometimes using archival footage against the backdrop of contemporary scenes.
Those Who Helped Us (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Coming of age, Heroism – real and perceived, Rights - individual or societal
- Available
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 …
When You Leave (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Drama, Short
- Evils of racism, Loss of innocence, Family - blessing or curse
- Limited availability
Dramatic short film mostly set in Minidoka about a small family that is split on the prospect of leaving camp. As the film begins, Yukio, a young man, returns from a stint doing farm labor on the outside. Sullen and quiet, he refuses to tell his family about his experience. But when his sister and mother announce that they have received clearance to leave, he is unexpectedly reluctant. To try to make the camp seem more like home, he begins building furniture. But when he builds a box for his sister's baby shoes, the crisis comes into the open.
The Chessmen (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Capitalism – effect on the individual, Necessity of work, Working class struggles
- Widely available
Short narrative film about Japanese Americans struggling to run a flower nursery set in Northern California in 1949. Based on a short story by Toshio Mori , filmmaker Ken Kokka made the film as a film student at UCLA.
Asian Americans, Episode 2: A Question of Loyalty (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Heartbreak of betrayal, Nationalism – complications, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
- Widely available
The second of five episodes of a landmark documentary on the Asian American experience, A Question of Loyalty focuses on the World War II period, telling the story of three Asian American families, two of whom are Japanese American.
In Search of No-No Boy (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Widely available
Documentary film on the landmark novel No-No Boy and its author John Okada that includes a profile of Okada (including interviews with his widow and children), the background of the loyalty questionnaire and draft resistance , and the book's rediscovery a decade and a half later. The film includes readings of key scenes by poet Lawson Fusao Inada and dramatizations of them by actors.
Fujikawa (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Beauty of simplicity, Man against nature, Wisdom of experience
- Limited availability
Documentary film that profiles second generation fisherman Fred Fujikawa through the eyes of his nineteen-year-old nephew Michael Shiroishi. Narrated in Shiroishi's first-person voice, it is his first time accompanying his uncle. Over the course of the voyage, we learn about Fujikawa's family, who were among the Japanese Americans who settled on Terminal Island prior to World War II, along with the history of Japanese Americans in the fishing industry, while also getting a glimpse of life aboard a fishing boat and of Fujikawa and his brother building and launching a new boat. There is a brief segment on the internment of Terminal Island fishermen—including Shiroishi's grandfather—and the subsequent destruction of the Japanese American community there. "It's a sad deal," recalls Fujikawa.
Yonsei Eyes (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Power of the past, Quest for discovery, Wisdom of experience
- Widely available
Documentary film that follows young Yonsei siblings Mika & Lee Osaki as they go on a pilgrimage to Tule Lake in 2016, their first trip to the camp in which both of their grandfathers had been held. Mika and Lee's narration of their trip is intercut with interview footage of both grandfathers, Tsukasa Matsueda (1925–2011) and Wayne Osaki (1923–2015).
Hidden Legacy: Japanese Traditional Performing Arts in the WWII Internment Camps (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Destruction of beauty, Expression through art, Power of tradition
- Widely available
Documentary film focusing on traditional Japanese performing arts in War Relocation Authority concentration camps during World War II.
Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066 (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Heartbreak of betrayal, Injustice, Manipulation, Power and corruption
- Widely available
Documentary film that explores the chain of events that led to Executive Order 9066 and the three Japanese American Supreme Court cases that subsequently challenged the curfew and exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, with a focus on the set of knowingly false claims that proponents of the exclusion used to justify it. Largely following the storyline of Peter Irons ' classic study of the Japanese American Cases, Justice at War: The Story of the Japanese American Internment Cases . , filmmaker Jon Osaki uses interviews—with scholars (including Irons), lawyers and activists involved in the coram nobis cases, and descendants of some of the key figures involved in the decision to forcibly remove Japanese Americans—archival audio and video, and historic photos and documents to tell the story. He uses two college-age Japanese Americans (Mika Osaki, the filmmaker's daughter, and Joseph Tsuboi) as a framing device for the story, …
Speak Out for Justice: The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Los Angeles Hearings, August 4–6, 1981 (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Evils of racism, Injustice, Wisdom of experience
- Available
Short compilation of testimony from the Los Angeles hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians includes excerpts from twenty-eight people covering a range of topics including the arrest and internment of Issei , the travails of being incarcerated, the continuing impact on the incarceration, and calls for monetary reparations. A total of 157 people testified at the Los Angeles hearings for over twenty-three hours. Included in the film is footage of anti-redress activist Lillian Baker accosting Jim Kawaminami while he was testifying. The film was produced the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress and Visual Communications and edited by Steve Nagano.
A Song for Manzanar (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Drama
- Displacement, Female roles
- Widely available
Dramatic narrative short film directed by Phil Emerson and Kazuko Golden centering on Sachie and Hiroko, two sisters we first meet in Hiroshima as Sachie, the elder, prepares to leave for the U.S. A few years later, Sachie is incarcerated in Manzanar with her husband Yoshizo and two young children and struggles to communicate with Hiroko, who remains in Hiroshima. Her efforts to enlist the help of a guard to send and receive letters to Japan is juxtaposed with Yoshizo's efforts to get the family released to Chicago .
The Japanese American (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Power of tradition, Social mobility
- Widely available
Short film produced by Handel Film Corporation in 1974 that provides an overview of the Japanese American experience. Almost entirely focusing on the West Coast experience, much of it is devoted to the wartime removal and incarceration.
Guilty by Reason of Race (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Injustice, Evils of racism, Power of the past
- Widely available
Documentary film produced by NBC and shown nationally on September 19, 1972, as part of the NBC Reports series. It was the second major network documentary on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans after The Nisei: The Pride and the Shame , which aired on CBS in 1965.
Truth of the Matter (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Good versus bad, Injustice, Manipulation
- Widely available
Short film by Steve Nagano that juxtaposes the rosy portrayal of the roundup and incarceration of Japanese Americans as presented by the 1942 film Japanese Relocation produced by the War Relocation Authority and Office of War Information with testimony by Japanese Americans from the Los Angeles hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in 1981. The film cuts back and forth between clips from Japanese Relocation and testimony that directly contradicts the claims espoused in the film. The final clip, from Grace Nakamura, emphasizes that such a mass roundup and incarceration could happen again.
Rabbit in the Moon (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Convention and rebellion, Injustice, Power of the past, Role of women
- Widely available
Documentary film written and directed by Emiko Omori and produced by Omori with her sister Chizuko on Japanese Americans in American concentration camps during World War II that highlights resistance and other lesser told stories. Winner of many awards and screened nationally on public television in 1999, Rabbit in Moon has become one of the most acclaimed and widely viewed feature length documentaries on this topic.
Harusame Spring Rain (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Drama
- Disillusionment and dreams, Heartbreak of betrayal, Losing hope
- Widely available
Narrative short film by Jose De Vega set during World War II centering on Naomi, a young Nisei dancer, whose bitterness about her wartime exclusion and incarceration saps her love of dance. In an unnamed American concentration camp, she encounters a child who dreams of becoming a professional dancer and who asks Naomi to teach her.
Legacy of the Barracks (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Power of the past, Quest for discovery, Wisdom of experience
- Limited availability
Locally produced 1994 documentary by Los Angeles TV station KABC hosted by Tricia Takasugi about a project to bring two barracks from Heart Mountain , Wyoming, back to Los Angeles for display at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). We see volunteers in Wyoming carefully dismantling the barracks, numbering them, and loading them onto trucks, then putting one back together in a parking lot across the street from JANM, where it will accompany the exhibition, America's Concentration Camps . The second barracks was used in the core exhibition in the museum's new building that opened six years later. Several volunteers who worked on the project are interviewed, as are some JANM staffers. (Some of the interview footage with Bacon Sakatani —as well as some footage and narration—is recycled from an earlier KABC documentary, Memories of the Camps [1992].)
Lawson Fusao Inada: What It Means to Be Free (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Expression through art, Importance of community, Power of words
- Limited availability
Documentary film featuring poet Lawson Fusao Inada . In the film, Inada reads ten of his poems, while also providing brief introductions or background information on each of them. The filmmakers incorporate archival and contemporary footage—including visits by Inada to Tule Lake , the site of the Fresno Assembly Center , and Japanese American Historical Plaza in Portland, Oregon—as well as archival and family photographs into the readings.
Fort Sill Protest (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Immigrant experience, Injustice, Power of the past
- Widely available
Video documentary of the 2019 Fort Sill protest coordinated on June 22, 2019, by a coalition of progressive organizations including Tsuru for Solidarity, American Indian Movement (AIM) Indian Territory, Dream Action Oklahoma, Black Lives Matter OKC, and the Autonomous Brown Berets. This documentary includes interviews with activists, community members, and former incarcerees; news coverage of the event; highlights of speeches from the protest; and footage of their interactions with the military police. Speakers and interviewees highlight the significance of Fort Sill as a historic site of oppression, first with Native Americans imprisoned in a boarding school and prison camp, then as an incarceration site for Japanese Americans during WWII, and most recently as a detainment center for immigrant and refugee children. The documentary connects the incarceration of Japanese Americans with current immigration detention policies that have led to the separation of children from their families. The film urges solidarity amongst …
Yae Wada: 45 Years of Anger (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 6-8, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Immigrant experience, Injustice, Power of the past
- Widely available
Video documentary produced by "What Does It Mean To Be American?" as part of the Mineta Legacy Project, which features an interview with former Japanese American incarceree, Yae Wada . [1] At the age of 99, Wada recounts her memories of being placed in concentration camps during World War II, and how she overcame her anger towards the experience.
History and Memory (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary, Experimental
- Injustice, Power of the past, Role of women
- Widely available
Experimental documentary film by Rea Tajiri that explores the collective memory of Japanese American incarceration through the act of remembering and forgetting. History and Memory (1991) has been frequently studied by academics and film critics for its cultural impact on the topic of Japanese American incarceration and memory.
Sanga moyu (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Drama
- Family - blessing or curse, Patriotism - positive side or complications
- Limited availability
Japanese television series that dramatized the Japanese American experience. Sanga moyu (Burning Mountains and Rivers) was a 1984 series produced by NHK, Japan's national broadcasting network. Consisting of 51 episodes that ran 45 minutes each, the series debuted on January 8, 1984, and ran through December 23, 1984. The story was based on the novel Futatsu no sokoku (Two Homelands) by Toyoko Yamasaki and focused on the Amo family of Los Angeles whose three Nisei sons chose different paths during World War II while the family was incarcerated at Manzanar : one who volunteers for the U.S. Army and fights in Europe, another who serves in the Military Intelligence Service during the war crimes trials and American occupation, and a third who is trapped in Japan at the outbreak of war and drafted into the Japanese army. Japanese American organizations in the continental United States objected to the portrayal of …
Act of Faith: The Rev. Emery Andrews Story (film)
- Films and Video
- Grades 9-12, Adult
- Documentary
- Circle of life, Family – blessing or curse, Heroism – real and perceived, Love and sacrifice
- Widely available
Documentary film on Rev. Emery Andrews , a Baptist priest who went beyond the call of duty to aid Japanese Americans from Seattle incarcerated at the Minidoka , Idaho, concentration camp.