Film Image
Resistance at Tule Lake
Producer: Michelle Chen
2017
78 minutes
US
English/Japanese
English subtitles

Resistance at Tule Lake

The dominant narrative of the World War II incarceration of Japanese-Americans has been that they behaved as a “model minority,” that they cooperated without protest and proved their patriotism by enlisting in the Army. Resistance at Tule Lake, a new feature-length documentary from Third World Newsreel and directed by Japanese American filmmaker Konrad Aderer, overturns that myth by telling the long-suppressed story of Tule Lake Segregation Center.

RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE tells the long-suppressed story of 12,000 Japanese Americans who dared to resist the U.S. government's program of mass incarceration during World War II. Branded as "disloyals" and re-imprisoned at Tule Lake Segregation Center, they continued to protest in the face of militarized violence, and thousands renounced their U.S. citizenship. Giving voice to experiences that have been marginalized for over 70 years, this documentary challenges the nationalist, one-sided ideal of wartime "loyalty."
Konrad Aderer is available for speaking engagements, please contact twn@twn.org for more information.
Pricing & Ordering
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Reviews
"The film gives ample screen time to several of the most taboo topics within camp history: that of draft resistance, renunciation, sequestration within camp (at the infamous 'stockade' and 'bullpen'), the nationalist Hoshi Dan group, and physical torture." - Discover Nikkei
“'Resistance at Tule Lake' is a potent piece of history at a time when the United States is once again feeling less than hospitable." - New York Times
"Konrad Aderer's magnificent Resistance at Tule Lake tells a history that has long needed to be told, about the US government's foolish and panicked mistakes in dealing with those already incarcerated." - IDA Documentary Magazine
"One of the most divisive chapters of the Japanese American incarceration is the story of Tule Lake. Thanks to the activism of Barbara Takei and Konrad Aderer’s film Resistance at Tule Lake, the story has become recognized." - NikkeiWest
Screenings
• Northern California Time of Remembrance (NCTOR)
• CineCulture, CSU Fresno
• Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute (GVJCI)
• Annual Nichi Bei's Films of Remembrance
• CAAMFest, San Francisco
• FAAIM Asian American Showcase
• DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon
• San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase
• Queens College
• Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
• California American Studies Association: Annual Meeting (CSU Long Beach)
• JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film
• Occidental College
• St. Francis College
• Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
• Boston Asian American Film Festival (BAAFF)
• Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival
• Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF)
• Boston Festival of Films from Japan
• Japanese American National Museum
• Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology at CSU Chico
• Tufts University Japan Culture Club
• Alwan for the Arts
• Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF)
• Rutgers University - New Brunswick
• New York Peace Film Festival (NYPFF)
• Oakland International Film Festival
• Revolution Books Berkeley
• Los Angeles Harbor College
• Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival
• Japanese American Citizens League National Convention

Call Us 1 (212) 947-9277
  • Third World Newsreel
  • • 545 Eighth Avenue, Suite 550, New York, NY 10018
  • • Telephone 212-947-9277

TWN acknowledges that in New York we are on the unceded territory of the Lenni Lenape, Canarsie, Shinecock, and Munsee peoples and challenges the harm that continues to be inflicted upon Indigenous and People of Color communities here and abroad, which is why we all need to be part of the struggle for rights, equality and justice.

TWN is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Color Congress, MOSAIC, New York Community Trust, Peace Development Fund, Ford Foundation, Golden Globe Foundation, Kolibri Foundation and individual donors.