Ann Kaneko/2020/82 min/Historical Perspectives, Social Justice, Water, People & Cultures
FILM DESCRIPTION: “Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust” provides a fresh interpretation of the Japanese American confinement site by examining the environmental and political history behind the World War II camp. Prior to the war, Manzanar was where Native Americans were driven out and farmers and ranchers were bought out by the L.A. Department of Water and Power (LADWP). By connecting this camp to California’s environmental history, this film shows the intersectionality of how Japanese Americans, Indigenous communities, and locals have been mistreated by government entities that have not served the interests of all of their citizenry.
The film exposes the legacy of colonization, racism, and social injustice at Manzanar. Manzanar has both the violent history of Native American colonial cleansing and the legacy of being a concentration camp for Japanese Americans who were similarly pushed away from the coast. This film aspires to bridge these communities and engage in important public discussion. Manzanar is a site of conscience that all of these communities can claim as their own.
Sunday, March 7, 3 to 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time
Tickets available to U.S. viewers only.
Please stay for post-film discussion with:
Facilitator Susan Lucci, Founder of 2Big4Words and Co-Founder of Global Purpose Guides and FeelReal
Panelists:
Ann Kaneko, Director, Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust
Monica Mariko Embrey, Member, Manzanar Committee; granddaughter of film subject Sue Embrey
Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone)