80 YEARS LATER

Official Selection, 2022 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

On the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which forcibly interned Japanese Americans during WWII, Celine Parreñas Shimizu follows two elders in her husband’s family who experienced internment, interrogating its traumas and intergenerational effects. Robert Tadashi Shimizu doesn’t have many memories of the internment camps, but his older cousin Kiyo Fujiu, who was in high school when she was interned, still feels angry at being betrayed by the state. But this is a film that is not so interested in the details of incarceration as it is in its effects and the long term realizations that come with age. For Robert, this manifests in a complex relationship with whiteness and assimilation. Kiyo recognizes that her trauma is buried deep and has possibly strained her relationships with her children.

The film embodies the value of discourse in Asian American communities, where so much is left unsaid, and whose younger generations feel less connected to their cultural histories as a result of their mixed race heritage. Robert and Kiyo are always with their immediate families, giving voice to their experiences as a way to reckon with history and their relationships with their children and grandchildren. In 80 YEARS LATER, Shimizu provides a delicate and reflective portrait of internment, moving away from a typical focus on trauma, and towards one of healing.

—Justin Nguyen

Pre-screening reception at UltraStar Cinemas from 5:00-6:30PM for all ticket holders.

This screening is FREE for Pac Arts members. To receive your free member ticket, please visit the UltraStar ticketing/concession stand on November 7. Members will also be able to redeem their free ticket(s) online by using the code found in the general membership e-newsletter. For assistance, email membership@pacarts.org.

Co-Presented by Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego (PALSD) & Korean American Bar Association (KABA).

Preceded By

Sincerely Miné Okubo

Directed by Yuka Murakami

Weaving together insights from Obuko’s nieces, archival photographs, and Okubo’s own artwork before, during, and after incarceration in Japanese internment camps, SINCERELY MINÉ OKUBO shines a spotlight on a significant figure in Asian American art history.