This documentary short follows the journey of five Bay Area artists from their artist studios to the grounds of the 2018 Manzanar Pilgrimage in California. At Manzanar, the artists immerse themselves in the camp environment to unearth haunting voices of this WWII period of incarceration and historical injustice. The artists each bring their distinct family stories of incarceration and the effect this has had on their art into the documentary’s collective story. The Sansei women perform a series of artistic offerings and rituals to specifically honor their formerly imprisoned family members and to all who shared this Japanese American victimization. This ancestral honoring is the centerpiece and heart that carries this documentary’s story.

Directors Biography - Shari Arai Deboer, Na Omi Judy Shintani, Ellen Bepp, Kathy Fujuu-Oka & Reiko Fujii

Artists Shari Arai DeBoer (printmaker), Na Omi Judy Shintani (mixed-media), Ellen Bepp (mixed-media), Kathy Fujii-Oka (painter) and Reiko Fujii (mixed-media), were members of the Asian American Women Artists Association. They shared a common history: many of their relatives were unjustly incarcerated in American concentration camps during WWII. As a way to honor their ancestors and the rest of the 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were imprisoned, the artists decided to journey together to the 2018 Manzanar Pilgrimage.