Surviving an American Concentration Camp (2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in April 2022.

 

The topic is the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II with special focus on the human aspect; with special focus on the human suffering caused by this program – during the war as well as after the war.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Director: Rory Banyard

** Writer: Sara Kass

** Narrator: Tamlyn Tomita

** Production and distribution: North Shore Productions

** Available on the PBS website

** Language: English

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 56 minutes

 

In this film, there are interviews with survivors and with the relatives of survivors.

 

Archive footage is used to supplement and support the statements made by those who are interviewed.

 

This film is well-organized and has a good flow. In less than one hour, director Rory Banyard and writer Sarah Kass manage to cover the topic in great detail.

 

The story of the Japanese Americans is divided into three sections:

 

Section #1

The Japanese Americans before World War II, with special focus on residents of Bainbridge Island in Washington state.

 

Section # 2

The Japanese Americans during World War II, with special focus on Minidoka, an internment camp located in Idaho.

 

Section # 3

The Japanese Americans after World War II, with special focus on the campaign for redress (the call for an apology and for economic compensation).

 

What do reviewers say about this film? This question is not easy to answer. The film is listed on IMDb, but there is no rating and there are no reviews.

 

In my opinion, this film is an important document about an important topic.

 

As far as I can see, this film is an ABC product:

 

** Accurate

** Balanced

** Comprehensive

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Film and video

 

** A Bitter Legacy (2016)

Run time = 76 minutes

Rating on IMDb = 84 percent

Rating on Amazon = 100 percent

For details about this film, see my review posted on this blog in March 2020

 

** Hidden Heroes: The Nisei Soldiers in WWII

(The History Channel) (43 minutes) (2021)

 

** Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066 (2018) (2022)

Run time = 58 minutes

Rating on IMDb = 89 percent

This film focuses on the legal aspect of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

 

** Minidoka: An American Concentration Camp (2019)

National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center

Run time = 30 minutes

 

** Go to the PBS website and type in the words Japanese Americans. Several items will appear.

 

** Go to YouTube and type in the word Minidoka. Several items about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II will pop up.

 

# 2. Websites

 

** Betrayedfilm.com = a website dedicated to the film

 

** Resisters.com = Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration

 

** Friends of Minidoka = this website focuses on Minidoka, an internment camp located in Idaho

 

** Densho Encyclopedia

A free online resource about the history of the Japanese American World War II exclusion and incarceration experience

Online since 2012 - a work in progress

# 3. Books

 

** By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans by Greg Robinson (2001)

 

** Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II by Roger Daniels (2004)

 

** Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II by Richard Reeves (2016)

 

** Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp during World War II by Andrea Warren (2021)

 

*****

Betrayed

(PBS, 2022)

 

*****

Betrayed

(PBS, 2022)

*****

Betrayed

(PBS, 2022)

*****