A Japanese American incarcerated on a reservation finds a friend in a Mohave Indian who helps him fight for civil rights.
Director Biography - Marlene Shigekawa
An independent film director, producer, and writer, Marlene Shigekawa specializes in creative projects that give voice to marginalized communities and the need for social justice. She was the co-director and executive producer for the feature documentary film, For the Sake of the Children, which captures the voices of four generations of descendants from Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. It has screened throughout the U.S. and in British Columbia.
Her short narrative film, The Blue Jay, is drawn from her family’s incarceration at the Poston Concentration Camp located on a reservation. It’s based on her feature script, Hawk Dreamer, about a brotherhood between Japanese American and Native American characters. Shigekawa hopes to bring authentic voices and more diversity to the screen through her work, both documentary and narrative films that feature Asian Americans
As the Executive Director for the Poston Community Alliance, she has worked with the tribal community for 20 years in preserving the Poston Incarceration Site and has organized annual Poston Pilgrimages with 250 attendees. She is the author of children’s books - Blue Jay in the Desert and Welcome Home Swallows - about a Japanese American family and has made book presentations in schools throughout the U.S.
A Japanese American incarcerated on a reservation finds a friend in a Mohave Indian who helps him fight for civil rights.
Director Biography - Marlene Shigekawa
An independent film director, producer, and writer, Marlene Shigekawa specializes in creative projects that give voice to marginalized communities and the need for social justice. She was the co-director and executive producer for the feature documentary film, For the Sake of the Children, which captures the voices of four generations of descendants from Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. It has screened throughout the U.S. and in British Columbia.
Her short narrative film, The Blue Jay, is drawn from her family’s incarceration at the Poston Concentration Camp located on a reservation. It’s based on her feature script, Hawk Dreamer, about a brotherhood between Japanese American and Native American characters. Shigekawa hopes to bring authentic voices and more diversity to the screen through her work, both documentary and narrative films that feature Asian Americans
As the Executive Director for the Poston Community Alliance, she has worked with the tribal community for 20 years in preserving the Poston Incarceration Site and has organized annual Poston Pilgrimages with 250 attendees. She is the author of children’s books - Blue Jay in the Desert and Welcome Home Swallows - about a Japanese American family and has made book presentations in schools throughout the U.S.