MINIDOKA: AN AMERICAN CONCENTRATION CAMP, a film produced by North Shore Productions, tells the story of Japanese Americans, most of them American citizens, who were forcibly removed from their Pacific Northwest homes during World War II. They were held in squalid conditions in temporary detention centers, and then put on trains to a concentration camp in the desert of southern Idaho. Innocent of any crime, many of them would remain imprisoned at Minidoka for over three years.
In the compelling voices of survivors of the camp, the film explores the unconstitutional suspension of the civil rights of these Americans and the long-lasting impact of the incarceration on their community. MINIDOKA examines what happens when a group of Americans are imprisoned solely on the basis of race, and examines the relevance of this story today.
This screening includes the 30-minute MINIDOKA: AN AMERICAN CONCENTRATION CAMP film and excerpts from a soon-to-be completed independent long form film documenting the incarceration experience, the community trauma it caused, and the parallels this story has to the modern day. A Q & A with camp survivors and the filmmakers will follow the screening. The upcoming independent film is supported in part by Friends of Minidoka, the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant, the Freeman Foundation, and the Regional Arts and Culture Council.