Center for Asian American Media

Director/Co-Producer: Tadashi Nakamura

Co-Producer: Karen Ishizuka

Ethnicities: Japanese, Multi-Ethnic

Subjects: JapaneseAmerican/Canadian Internment, Activism, History, Human/Civil Rights, War, Youth

Grade Level:
Middle school and higher

Two young Japanese Americans set out to find an obscure place called Manzanar in the California desert, in 1969. This was one of ten sites where over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated during World War II. This rediscovery then became a “pilgrimage” and the first public event in the U.S. that called attention to the reality of these camps. 



With a hip music track, never-before-seen archival footage and a story-telling style that features both old and new pilgrims, PILGRIMAGE is the first film to show how the WWII camps were reclaimed by the children of its victims and how the Manzanar Pilgrimage now has fresh meaning for diverse generations of people who realize that when the U.S. government herded thousands of innocent Americans into what the government itself called concentration camps, it was failure of democracy that would affect all Americans. As the U.S. is again in tumultuous times, this film is relevant and engaging bringing new and much-needed insight to the lessons of the past for our post-9/11 world.

SPECIAL FEATURES on the DVD include archival footage of the 1969 Pilgrimage to Manzanar, the 36th Annual Pilgrimage, a gathering for Ramadan in Little Tokyo (Los Angeles), and interviews.



This film was made possible in part by grants from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, UCLA in LA Community Partnership Program, and the California Wellness Foundation.

“Tad Nakamura’s inspiring new film opens up the Japanese American experience of World War II to a new generation of multicultural activists.”

- Yuri Kochiyama, Asian American Activist

“A powerfully moving piece on the dehumanization and dislocations of war, and the community and hope that can be found in resistance.”

- Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: a History of the Hip Hop Generation

“ PILGRIMAGE updates the model for historic documentaries creating a new soundtrack for archival footage and transforming a generation’s rediscovery of the camps into a veritable incantation.”

- B. Ruby Rich, U.C. Santa Cruz

Awards:
Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival 2008;
Best Documentary Short, Sacramento Film & Music Festival;
Best Documentary Short, Asian Film Festival of Dallas;
New Directions/New Visions Award, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival;
Best Student Film, Honolulu International Film Festival.

Recognition:
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival;
The Other Venice Film Festival;
Chicago Asian American Showcase;
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival;
Newport Beach Film Festival;
Asian Cinevision Int’l Film Festival;
Pause and Play Int’l Film Festival;
Long Island Int’l Film Festival;
Honolulu International Film Festival;
Asian Film Festival of Dallas;
Non Violence International Film Festival
Visionfest.

Additional Resources:
Watch the CNN interview with Tad Nakamura at Sundance »

See the PILGRIMAGE Educational Distribution Catalog page for more information including pricing and online ordering.