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shareFilmmakers in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A.
These four films tell the stories of communities galvanizing together in the face of oppression, violence, and injustice. They remind us that joy and play are just as important as grit and resilience, and often go hand-in-hand. Through vignettes of grassroots organizing, cross cultural solidarity, and reflections on what it means to live with one’s identity, these documentaries grapple with the inextricably connected struggles of the past and the present.
In this program
Misadventures of a Nisei Week Queen
Directed by Evan Kodani
The life of June Aochi Berk, from World War II incarceration in a horse stall, to beauty pageant winner.
The Nikkei of Norwalk
Directed by Jeffrey Gee Chin
Norwalk’s Southeast Japanese School and Community Center celebrates their 100 years of history, however despite ability to overcome the unlawful forced removal during WWII Japanese Incarceration and ongoing racial discrimination, the board must revisit their past in order to provide a sustainable future for the next generation, despite their shrinking population and shift in cultural demographics.
THE SANSEI PROJECT
Directed by Robert Shoji
From one-on-one interviews THE SANSEI PROJECT explores what it means to be Sansei (Third Generation Japanese American).
We Rise Together
Directed by Alan Kondo
We Rise Together shows the power of solidarity in the immigrant rights movement among a deported Cambodian refugee, an organization for the formerly incarcerated, an immigrant rights attorney, and a Japanese American community organization.
Dates & Times
Democracy Center @ JANM
May 2, 2026
11:00 am
