Executive Order 9066: All Persons of Japanese Ancestry

Short | 2022 | NR. 1hr 30min
SHORT FILM PREMIERE | AUG 8, 2022 | MASKS OPTIONAL

Join us for the premiere screening and a discussion of the short film Executive Order 9066: All Persons of Japanese Ancestry- the first film of the new series "Our Communities, Our Neighbors" produced by The Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation with funding from Tacoma Creates.

The video follows Japanese Sansei (third generation) writer Merilee Tanbara as she researches and writes her historical fiction novel about Tacoma's Japanese community before and after the Second World War. The novel follows the lives of those who returned from the concentration camps, rebuilt their lives and raised their children. The process has been both heart-wrenching and healing as Ms. Tanbara learns more and more about the experiences of her own grandparents and parents and the entire Issei and Nisei generations of Japanese Americans.

Media instructors Brian Parker and Kevin Gibson and their students at Bates Technical College are the production team for this video. Following the 25 minute film, join us for a discussion about the film, the history of the Japanese in Tacoma, and Ms. Tanbara's creative process.