Filmed in 1983, in and around Walnut Grove, CA, ISSEI: THE FIRST GENERATION was shown only twice in 1984 on local television. Buried in the vaults for thirty years, this unique film was produced by poet and film maker Toshi Washizu. 54 minutes in length, ISSEI revolves around original oral history interviews with Walnut Grove’s Issei, ranging in age from their 80s into their 100s, recounting their lives and experiences in their own words.
With the help of UCLA’s Aratani Endowed Chair/Professor Lane Hirabayashi, film maker Washizu has generated a newly restored, wide-screen, digital version of the film, with English narration by Amy Hill and subtitles for Japanese interviews. ISSEI is one of the few films that documents Japanese Americans in rural settings generally, and the San Joaquin delta area specifically, making it a valuable contribution to the history of the first-generation Japanese experience before, during, and after the war.
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Stay Afterwards for a Q&A with Director Toshi Washizu
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Free Parking for the first 125 guests. Please park in Lot 3.
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Light refreshments provided when doors open at 3:30PM
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Email: JapanCenter@international.ucla.edu