May 29, 2014 (Thursday)
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Movie: Hatsumi, Director: Chris Hope During WW2, Nancy Hatsumi Okura was involuntarily removed from her home on the west coast and detained by the Government of Canada. Because of her ancestry, her rights as a Canadian citizen were denied. Chris Hope is Nancy’s grandson. Chris is curious about the unusual photos in his family photo albums from the WW2 era. Following Nancy's 80th birthday, he offers to take her on a trip back to the locations of her internment if she agrees to discuss her wartime experiences for the first time. “A beautifully crafted documentary that never once loses its innate humanity whilst portraying the rampant inhumanity that surrounded these hapless citizens of Canada. Fierce, loving, strong, poetic.” - Deepa Mehta, Academy Award® nominated director of Midnight’s Children “An extraordinary and beautiful film … exhaustively and passionately researched, both at the level of the filmmaker’s personal history and as an investigation into our national consciousness.”- Atom Egoyan, Academy Award® nominated director of The Devil's Knot Movie: Reiko’s Hina Dolls, Director: Komaki Matsui This short film is based on the true story of an elderly woman who brought a set of carefully preserved Japanese dolls to the Edmonton Japanese Community Association in 2005. When asked how she was able to keep the dolls, when property was confiscated during the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, the woman simply said, “We fled.” This film imagines what she and her family did in the years from 1942 to 2005. The young girl, Reiko, was given the dolls that were meant originally for her older sister who died as an infant. When war breaks out and Japanese-Canadians are ordered to internment camps in the BC Interior, Reiko’s family refuses to give up all they have worked for, and takes a risky gamble on a different uncertain path. Years later, with her dolls still in her possession, Reiko is able to make a touching and significant donation to the Edmonton Japanese community. Presented by the Ottawa Japanese Community Association
In Association with Ottawa Asian Heritage Month Society and the Ottawa Public Library.
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