Category Archives: Screenings

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Watch our film on Comcast video-on-demand through month of May

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Comcast XFINITY logoWe’ve just learned that our film has been selected for national distribution through Comcast XFINITY’s video-on-demand service. Thanks to Chi-hui Yang, curator of the “Cinema Asian America” series, Comcast digital cable subscribers with On-Demand in select TV markets can watch Conscience and the Constitution for just $1.99 per view.

If you haven’t already seen Conscience, this is a limited opportunity, from today through May 31, to see it at home for a nominal fee. Please share the news with friends. Read more in the news release, with a list below of the TV markets where you can “demand” our film:

Conscience and the Constitution carried nationwide in May on Comcast video-on-demand

Award-winning documentary featured in “Cinema Asian America” series on Comcast XFINITY

To mark Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May, XFINITY On Demand ‘s Cinema Asian America presents Frank Abe’s landmark documentary, Conscience and the Constitution.

Originally released in 2000, the film has become a vital part of the nation’s on-going conversation about race, citizenship and civil liberties – complex and fraught dynamics that have become even more urgent since September 11, 2001.

“With video-on-demand and Comcast’s national presence we can reach more viewers and give them a chance to learn more about the incarceration, at a nominal cost,” said Abe. “Thanks to series curator Chi-hui Yang for including our film among so many other outstanding offerings.”

From May 1 through May 31, Conscience and the Constitution is available to all Comcast digital cable subscribers with On-Demand for $1.99 per view.

Conscience and the Constitution examines the history of mass incarceration of more than 110,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps during WWII, the majority of them US citizens. The film focuses on a group of 85 internees, who refused to be drafted to fight for the US military – an act of protest that resulted, not only in the largest trial for draft resistance in U.S. history, but also in ideological rifts within the Japanese American community that persist even today.

At a time when community leaders advocated for Japanese Americans to sign up for the armed forces to prove their loyalty to the U.S., the resisters refused to do so, knowing that they and their families had been stripped of their civil rights and incarcerated, solely on the basis of their race. The film examines the deep schisms that opened in the Japanese American community during the incarceration and which persist today.

That story also informs the plot of the new musical, Allegiance, which premiered last fall in San Diego and is currently back in development in a workshop lab in New York. “This cablecast of Conscience is timely, as audiences who’ve seen or heard about the musical can now check out the source material for themselves,” said Abe.

“Cinema Asian America” is the groundbreaking video-on-demand offering on Comcast featuring Asian American and Asian films and videos in a monthly, thematically-programmed format. The curated series brings together award-winning films fresh from the film festival circuit and classics which beg to be revisited.

To find Conscience and the Constitution through the Comcast digital cable menu, viewers should click on the “On Demand” button, then look under the “Movies” folder and select the “Movie Collections” subfolder to find “Cinema Asian America.”

Conscience and the Constitution is also available as a Two-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD, which can be ordered online for home use for $29.95 plus shipping by visiting Resisters.com/orders. For institutional rates, schools and libraries should contact Transit Media at www.transitmedia.net or (800) 343-5540.

Learn more about the film at Resisters.com, and see sample clips from the film at YouTube.com/ConscienceDVD.

Comcast TV Markets

Birmingham, AL
Dothan, AL

Huntsville, AL
Little Rock, AR

Tucson, AZ

Fresno, CA
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco, CA
Santa Barbara, CA

Colorado Springs, CO
Denver, CO

Hartford, CT

Washington DC

Ft. Myers, FL

Jacksonville, FL
Miami, FL
Orlando, FL
Panama City, FL
Pensacola, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Tampa, FL
West Palm Beach, FL

Atlanta, GA
Augusta, GA
Savannah, GA

Chicago, IL
Champaign, IL
Peoria, IL
Rockford, IL

Ft. Wayne, IN
Indianapolis, IN
South Bend, IN

Charleston, KY
Louisville, KY
Paducah, KY

Monroe, LA
New Orleans, LA
Shreveport, LA

Boston, MA
Springfield, MA

Detroit, MI

Kansas City, MO

Baltimore, MD
Salisbury, MD

Minneapolis, MN

Columbus, MS
Hattiesburg, MS
Jackson, MS

Albuquerque, NM

New York, NY

Youngstown, OH

Portland, OR

Harrisburg, PA
Johnstown, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Charleston, SC

Chattanooga, TN
Knoxville, TN
Memphis, TN
Nashville, TN
Tri-Cities, TN

El Paso, TX
Houston, TX

Salt Lake City, UT

Richmond, VA
Roanoke, VA

Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA

Wheeling, WV

Day of Remembrance, DVD, Fair Play Committee, Frank Emi, Heart Mountain, JACL, News, Redress, Screenings, Teachers

“Films of Remembrance” to feature DVD featurette

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Floyd Mori at JACL apology ceremony
Floyd Mori at JACL apology ceremony

One of the featurettes on our new DVD, “The JACL Apologizes,” will screen in San Francisco Japantown on Monday, Feb. 18 as part of this year’s, “Films of Remembrance.”

It’s a one-day film series held in conjunction with the Bay Area Day of Remembrance, commemorating the 71st anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, which set the wheels in motion to forcibly relocate some 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry into American concentration camps during World War II.  Our piece caps off the day’s program, which ends with this description:

5:30 p.m. “A Divided Community: Three Personal Stories of Resistance” (2012, 73 min.) This documentary by Momo Yashima highlights the struggles of three Japanese American World War II resisters — Yosh Kuromiya, Frank Emi and Mits Koshiyama — who challenged the U.S. government’s decision to draft Japanese Americans while they and their families were being held in America’s concentration camps.

Followed by “The JACL Apologizes” by Frank Abe, from the DVD “Conscience and the Constitution.”

The screenings are at Nihonmachi Little Friends, 1830 Sutter St. (near Buchanan) in San Francisco Japantown. The event is sponsored by the Bay Area Day of Remembrance Consortium, the Nichi Bei Weekly and the National Japanese American Historical Society.  Free admission, though they’d welcome donations. Thanks to Kenji Taguma for including our piece in the series.

Day of Remembrance, Fair Play Committee, Frank Emi, Heart Mountain, News, Redress, Screenings, Teachers, Veterans

Resisters honored on Fred Korematsu Day in San Francisco

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Korematsu heroes graphicThe Heart Mountain resisters, under the heading of “Internment Dissenters,” will be among 16 individuals and groups honored in San Francisco this Sunday at the third annual Fred Korematsu Day celebration. Thanks to the organizers for linking to this site for information about the resisters and, for the short film to be screened at the event, thanks for using two of the stills from our film: the shot of Frank Emi in camp with grocer Kozie Sakai, and the iconic courtroom photo of the 63 resisters on trial in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education is a program of the Asian Law Caucus, which was co-founded by longtime supporter and civil rights lawyer Dale Minami. The event is this Sunday, January 27, 2:30-4:30pm, at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on 401 Van Ness Ave.

In what is billed as “a historic gathering of civil rights heroes and the descendants of heroes who have passed on,” the Nisei draft resisters are sixth on a list of 16 American civil rights heroes who organizers say have been long overlooked:

#6. INTERNMENT DISSENTERS: “No-Nos,” draft resisters and renunciants who challenged the WWII incarceration and mistreatment of Japanese Americans. ‘No-No’ Hiroshi Kashiwagi will represent this honoree group at the event.

The video to be shown is described as a 2-minute short produced by filmmaker Winnie Wong, who interviewed Hiroshi for it  She hopes to be able to share a Vimeo link at some point. The Institute’s Education Coordinator, Tim Huey, writes:

We are offering 2 free VIP tickets to each living member of our honoree groups. So, for those that are a Filipino WWII veteran, Japanese American WWII veteran, Internment Dissenter (draft resister, No-No, renunciant), or Dollar Store Striker that wish to attend, have them call us at 415-848-7737 to request complimentary tickets or email [email protected]. At this point resister Jimi Yamaichi plans on coming, as well as No-No Jim Tanimoto. We’d love to have more dissenters attend if they are able.

Korematsu teaching kitThe 16 Heroes are all featured on an educational poster that is going into our teaching kits that are sent for free to educators across the country. We’ll be unveiling the poster at the event. More information on the teaching kits can be found on our website. Most of the materials can be downloaded for instant gratification, but for those desiring a physical kit, they simply have to fill out a basic online form to request them.

Tickets for the event are available for purchase. And again,  Japanese American draft resisters, renunciants, and no-no boys are among those who can get free VIP tickets.

Korematsu heroes program

DVD, Heart Mountain, News, Screenings

Celebrating the DVD release in Los Angeles

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LA screeningWho knew that a story outside the accepted narrative of the Japanese American community would still have the power to be considered controversial? Thanks to the 125 who turned out on May 12 for the DVD launch event and the lively Q and A at the Japanese American National Museum. See the photo gallery here.

And thanks to JANM, program director Koji Stephen Sakai, and new president and CEO Dr. Greg Kimura for daring to have us there in the first place. As Dr. Kimura said in introducing us, he’d received a couple of phone calls questioning the museum’s hosting of this film documenting draft resistance insideAmerica’s WW2 concentration camps. Dr. Kimura said the film and this subject remain controversial topics in the Japanese American community even today, but he said he believes the mission of the museum is precisely to offer those alternate narratives that are outside the accepted narratives of the community. As a new hire, that was a gutsy thing to say, and I hope the people of LA rally behind his leadership. It was fitting that you could see the name of the venue – Tateuchi Democracy Forum – writ large behind him as he spoke and throughout the screening.

After the screening I made the mistake of waving a red flag in front of my good friend Martha by holding up a copy of John Okada’s No-No Boy, as recommended reading. To be heard from the upper rows, Martha had to shout, and she sure let us know how the author is really a veteran trying to write about a resister, how the title misleads the reader as the main character is not a “no-no boy,” and how the resisters really hate the book. But Yosh Kuromiya was able to say that while he hated the book for years, after several more readings he now understands that Okada was not trying to portray the resisters as confused, and that the book truly is, as he put it, “a work of art.” And Martha joined a group of us for breakfast at Dick Obayashi’s Gardena Bowl two days later.

It was a pleasure to reunite with several key players in our film: Yosh and Irene Kuromiya, Tak Hoshizaki, Prof. Art Hansen, and our fabulous world-class film editor, Lillian Benson, A.C.E. Also thanks to Momo Yashima and Ralph Brannan, Soji Kashiwagi, Marie and Earnie Masumoto, Gerald Kado, Ben Toshiyuki, Harry Honda, and cousin Jeff Shinozaki for joining us in the audience. Thanks also to J.K. Yamamoto of the Rafu Shimpo for catching us in the lobby and posting this online photo with Art and Lillian.

DVD, News, Screenings

Los Angeles DVD release and screening at the Japanese American National Musuem

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Tateuchi Democracy Forum
Tateuchi Democracy Forum at JANM
Please join us for the Southern California debut of the new Two-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD of Conscience and the Constitution. Producer Frank Abe will screen the film and debut a new DVD featurette, “The JACL Apologizes.” Q&A with the filmmaker and DVD signing will follow the screening in the Tateuchi Democracy Forum. Admission is free to the museum and the screening, thanks to the “Target Free Family Day” in celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month.

News, Screenings

Post-screening discussion on Bainbridge Island

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Bainbridge Island post-screening panelBainbridge Island audiences get it. They’ve embraced the exclusion very easily simply as part of their history, much like the residents I met in Eden, Idaho. Thanks to the 100 Islanders who came out Friday night for the DVD screening and discussion at Sakai Intermediate School. And thanks to Kay Sakai for sharing her memory not only of James Omura living on Bainbridge, but of working in the hospital on the night of the Manzanar Riot! See the photo gallery on our Facebook movie page, photos courtesy of Vivian Esteban Hwang, and a video glimpse of the audience watching the screening, courtesy of Vern Nakata.

DVD, News, Screenings

Seattle DVD release and screening at the Wing Luke Musuem

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Thanks to the more than 75 who came out today for the Seattle DVD release at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. Some were waiting in line for the museum to open at 10am to get a ticket for the 1pm screening, then quickly filled the Tateuchi Story Theater. This was one of our most rapt audiences, who laughed in all the right places; even the babe in arms enjoyed the film quietly.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and questions and it was a pleasure to meet so many of you afterwards, including Miyoko who told me the story of why Jim Akutsu switched churches after the death of his mother. For Mike Tagawa, who told me of his days as an original Black Panther, here’s the ITVS documentary with lost footage of the Panthers that just aired last week on PBS. I’m sorry I lost track of the woman who wanted the Japanese lyrics to the Song of Cheyenne, I wanted to direct her to this image of the actual scrap of paper that we found in James Kado’s wallet. It is this song to which Mako fit the melody of the Japanese Hawaiian work song, “Hore Hore Bushi,” and which we were delighted to be able to include on our new Two-Disc DVD.

I also want to thank the staff for their terrific arrangements for todays’s DVD release: community programs manager Vivian Chan, education director Charlene Mano-Shen (who said the audience was “blown away” by the experience, and who is pictured above welcoming them) and Hanh Pham and Trayvian in The Marketplace. Speaking of which, only at The Marketplace can you now obtain the hard-to-find 18×24 inch film festival poster for CONSCIENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION, for the nominal price of $5, half of which goes to support the museum.

If you saw the screening today, or any past screening, please leave your feedback here.

DVD, News, Reviews, Screenings

DVD review in International Examiner and preview of Seattle screening

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Wing Luke Museum logo Thanks to Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times for highlighting in her column in the “Movietimes” section our first public screening of the new Two-Disc Collector’s Edition DVD of “Conscience and the Constitution.” And thanks to those who have RSVP’d on Facebook. No reservation or ticket needed. Just come by the Wing Luke Asian Museum in the Tateuchi Story Theater, 719 South King Street, Seattle, on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1:00 p.m. Producer Frank Abe will screen the film and debut a new DVD featurette, “The JACL Apologizes,” on events that occurred after the film’s release, answer questions, and sign DVD’s.

Also in Seattle, see the new review in the International Examiner. Having read the paper for decades, it’s an honor to be included in the IE Arts section edited by poet and greengrocer Alan Lau. This review from Chizu Omori is among the most detailed yet. Looks great online but the article is truly impressive in print, pick up the paper if you can.

Finally, this Saturday, Feb. 11, Seattle University is hosting the The 25th Anniversary of the United States v. Hirabayashi Coram Nobis Case: Its Meaning Then and Its Relevance Now, with a lineup starting with Tom Ikeda and Peter Irons and ending with the Sansei attorneys on the legal team. Should be quite a reunion with old friends.

DVD, Screenings

Screening at the Fresno County Public Library

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Our film screens next Tuesday, August 24, at the Fresno County Public Library, Central Library, McCardle Room. It’s the second day of their series, “The Japanese-American Experience in Film.” See their flyer.

The film will screen from the latest check disc of the forthcoming DVD, which is still on its way. All that remains is the authoring on the second disc and the remaining artwork.

Screenings

Screening at NJHAS in San Francisco

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Our film will screen January 14 as part of the “Thursday Night at the Movies” series staged by the National Japanese American Historical Society for its program on “Prejudice and Patriotism: The Story of Japanese Americans in the Military Intelligence Service 1941 – 1952.”

For this screening we are sending the first test dub of the MPEG-2 encoding of our film for the forthcoming 2-disk Special Edition DVD.