By KONRAD ADERER
Since 2019 I’ve been researching Japanese-language literature written in incarceration and adapting some of the stories for film. Starting next week I’ll be going to L.A. to begin location production on “They Took My Father Too,” an adaptation of a story written by incarceree Fujiwo Tanisaki and published in 1944 in the Tule Lake literary journal Tessaku (Iron Fence).
The story follows a Japanese American family living in Little Tokyo, in the traumatic timeframe of March 1942, when the government was preparing to forcibly remove all Japanese Americans from the West Coast. When the FBI resumes a wave of mass arrests of Japanese immigrants, the family takes desperate measures, knowing they have precious moments left together.
This will be the first film to focus on Tuna Canyon Detention Station, where over 2,000 Japanese, German, and Italian immigrants were locked up from 1941-1943.
My last film weaved the collective experience of Tule Lake Segregation Center from the testimonies of people who lived through it. This project brings a literary work to life through dramatic scenes, and uses the words of Japanese writers and journalists of Little Tokyo to give new insight into this time through documentary storytelling.
My project recently was awarded a grant from the Japanese American Confinment Sites program of the National Park Service. As a federal matching grant, the JACS program provides a match of money raised from other sources.
At this stage I’m producing a work-in-progress to develop the project, joined by my producing partner Ken Ochiai, veteran producer Stanley Yung, and amazing director of photography Michael Dwyer.
Thanks to a single donor we have funds for the first Los Angeles shoot. We need to raise $10,000 to cover the next shoot and complete this WIP. This is not the last appeal I’ll be making for “They Took My Father Too,” but it’s a crucial one for getting to a stage where we’re eligible for other grants. All donations, small and large, are greatly appreciated. Donations to this project are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, Third World Newsreel.
Go to: https://secure.etransfer.com/eft/flexblockcode/donation1.cfm?d2org=ThirdWorldNewsreel&d 2tool=donate. In the “How would you like to allocate your donation?” drop-down menu, select “They Took My Father Too.” Message me via Facebook with questions, or at [email protected] for alternate ways to donate.