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DisOrient 2013 Shorts Program: Heroes and Icons

"A Flicker In Eternity" - Historical Short Doc - 26 min.

The true WWII story of Stanley Hayami, a talented teenager caught between his dream of becoming an artist and his duty to his country. Based on Hayami's diary and letters, this coming-of-age tale chronicles his life behind barbed wire and as a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The film captures his imagination through endearing cartoons and witty observations that provide a firsthand look at the indignity of incarceration and the tragedy of war.

"Lil Tokyo Reporter" - Dramatic Short Narrative - 30 min.

"Lil Tokyo Reporter" is a short film set in 1935 Los Angeles based on the life of Civil Rights Leader and Newspaperman Sei Fujii. While the country struggles through the Great Depression, the Japanese American community unites for survival. Sei Fujii's law partner uncovers the ill intentions of the local mafia. Fujii must make a decision between the saving face his community and confronting the issue head on. Based on a true story.

Background:.

Sei Fujii was born in Yamaguchi-ken, Japan. He immigrated to California as a young man in 1903. He graduated from USC Law School in 1911, but was unable to become an attorney and practice law because he was not an American citizen. (Japanese and all Asians were prohibited from obtaining American citizenship by discriminatory laws passed by the U.S. Congress in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.) He teamed up with USC Law School classmate, civil rights attorney, J. Marion Wright, to help the Issei and the Japanese American Community with racially discriminatory legal issues for four and a half decades.

"Keye Luke" - Biographical Short Narrative - 12 min.

KEYE LUKE is a story about Keye Luke, Actor and Artist, the original Kato in the 1940s Green Hornet, the All-American 'Number One Son' in the Charlie Chan films, and Detective James Lee Wong in Phantom of Chinatown. In his later career, he was the voice of 'Brak' on Space Ghost, the shopkeeper Mr. Wing in the Gremlins films, the blind Master Po on the 1972 show 'Kung Fu.' He would go on to later act in 200+ films and TV shows.

Filmmakers from "A Flicker In Eternity" and "Lil Tokyo Reporter" will be attending for the Q&A following the screening.