Browse Films

The Red Pines, a short film for university and K-12 classrooms, explores the Japanese American community on Puget Sound's Bainbridge Island. It shows the cultural forces that enabled many of its members to return and rebuild their lives after exile and incarceration by their own government during World War II.

Terrific! In 12-minutes, *The Red Pines* provides a thoughtful, well-crafted survey of the pre- and post-war Japanese American experience on Seattle's Bainbridge Island. This documentary is also perfect for secondary, junior, and high school classrooms.
Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, George & Sakaye Aratani Professor of the Japanese American Internment, Redress and Community, UCLA

"The Red Pines" tells an enormously important story. Bainbridge Island was the first Japanese American community forcibly removed by the US Government during WWII. All the injustice, the irony, the support, the tragedy, and the courage are evident in this short, accessible video.
Franklin Odo, Director, Asian Pacific American Program, Smithsonian Institution

"Akamatsu," or Red Pine exemplifies the resilience and endurance facing hardships as a metaphor for the true story of the Bainbridge Island's Japanese Americans. From the immigrant generation, the Issei, to the third and fourth generations, this short documentary traverses the difficulties faced by this group, from the lumber mill days, the WW II incarceration, to the social acceptance they find today. It was a difficult journey told in an absorbing and very inspiring way.
Tetsuden Kashima, Ph.D., Professor, University of Washington

AWARDS & SCREENINGS:

• Washington DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival
• Northwest Asian American Film Festival
• Port Townsend, Washington Film Festival

Resource Web Sites

The Red Pines: Curriculum for Engaged Learning Through Film

Resources to Download

The Red Pines: Curriculum for Engaged Learning Through Film