''Day of Independence'' is a 2003

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

, broadcast in 2005 as a half-hour

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

. It is a drama, set during the

Japanese American internment Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, produced by

Cedar Grove Productions Cedar Grove Productions is an independent production company based in Los Angeles, California, specializing in media and theatre arts representing the Asian Pacific American community. Media projects are educational, with Visual Communications ...

with

Visual Communications Visual Communications (also known as VC) –– is a community-based non-profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1970 by independent filmmakers Robert Nakamura, Alan Ohashi, Eddie Wong, and Duane Kubo, who were st ...

as fiscal sponsor.

History

The story of the film is based on playwright and executive producer Tim Toyama's own father's World War II experience. During the war, Toyama's father, whose

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

was Zip, was sent along with his entire family to a U.S. internment camp for Japanese Americans. Zip's ''Issei'' (Japanese immigrant) father fell ill and elected to return to Japan, along with Zip's mother, on a prisoner exchange ship, called the MS ''Gripsholm''. However, the parents told Zip that as an American, he should remain in the U.S.

Background

Toyama wrote a play based on his family history, ''Independence Day''. He and director

Chris Tashima Christopher Inadomi Tashima (born March 24, 1960) is a Japanese American actor and director. He is co-founder of the entertainment company Cedar Grove Productions and Artistic Director of its Asian American theatre company, Cedar Grove OnStage. T ...

then adapted the play into a short film, which was produced by

Lisa Onodera Lisa Onodera is an American independent film producer, of such noted films as '' Picture Bride'', '' The Debut'' and '' Americanese''. She grew up in Berkeley, California, and attended UCLA where she received a degree from the School of Motion P ...

. The film was shot in 6 days, in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

and in Los Angeles. It was completed in 2003 and played in over 70 film and video festivals and competitions, winning 25 awards. Following its broadcast premiere on KHET/PBS Hawai'i on May 12, 2005, the film received a Regional

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nomination, from the

NATAS The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

San Francisco/Northern California Chapter (which includes Hawaii), in the category of Historical/Cultural – Program/Special.

Synopsis

A young baseball player faces the tragic circumstances of the internment of 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. Set in a relocation camp in 1943, ''Day of Independence'' chronicles a family torn apart by a forced, unjust incarceration, a father's decision that challenges his son, and ultimately his son's triumph through courage, sacrifice and the All-American game of baseball.

Cast

Derek Mio Derek Mio (born 1982) is an American film and television actor who attended USC School of Cinematic Arts. He is a fourth generation Japanese American. Personal life Mio was born in Huntington Beach, California and attended Huntington Beach High ...

as Zip *

Marcus Toji Marcus Mamoru Toji is an American actor and voice actor best known for his role on '' Movie Surfers''. Born in California in 1984, Toji attended Beverly Hills High School, was in a Betty Crocker Commercial for fruit snacks and won a Copper Wing ...

as Hog *

Alan Muraoka Alan Muraoka (born August 10, 1962) is a Japanese American actor and director who plays Alan, the current owner of Hooper's Store, on the television show ''Sesame Street'' since 1998. He currently serves on the board of directors at thBayard Rusti ...

as Father * Keiko Kawashima as Mother * Chris Tashima as The Umpire (In order of appearance) * Dean Komure as Spectator * Lisa Joe as Frances ("

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

" singer) * Diana Toshiko as Betty * Sarah Chang as Sadie * Julie Tofukuji as Mimi * Ulysses Lee as Tad * Jonathan Okui as Satch *

Gina Hiraizumi Gina or GINA or ''variation'' may refer to: Gina Gina may refer to: * Gina (given name), multiple individuals * Gina (Canaan), a town in ancient Canaan * Arihant (Jainism), also called gina, a term for a human who has conquered his or her inner p ...

as Rose

Awards

(partial list) *Emmy Nomination - 35th Northern California

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

CINE Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer to ...

Golden Eagle *Platinum Best of Show - Aurora Awards *Accolade Award of Excellence, Short Film *Best Short -

Stony Brook Film Festival The Stony Brook Film Festival, produced by Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, presents a program of new, independent films every summer since 1996. Features and short films from the U.S. and around the world are screened ove ...

*Best Narrative Short - Tambay Film & Video Festival *"Slate" Award, Best Short - California Independent Film Festival *Best Short Film - Houston Multicultural Independent Film Festival *Gold / 1st Prize - Crested Butte Reel Fest *Audience Award, Best Drama - Marco Island Film Festival

Trivia

* Performance artist

Dan Kwong Dan Kwong is an American performance artist, writer, teacher and visual artist. He has been presenting his solo performances since 1989, often drawing upon his own life experiences to explore personal, historical, and social issues. His works ...

, who is also a baseball player, coached lead actor Derek Mio in old-style pitching form. * Lisa Joe's character, "Frances" (who sings the National Anthem at the ballgame and later conducts a choir rehearsal), was named in honor of Joe's mother, Frances Sue Okabe, a well known

Nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...

singer and music teacher. Okabe was interned at the Minidoka

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

as a teenager, where she was known for her singing. Joe provided the singing voice on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

as well, which was recorded on

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...

just after her mother died from cancer. * During one of the

montage sequence Montage (, ''mon-TAHJ'') is a film editing technique in which a series of short shots are sequenced to condense space, time, and information. The term has been used in various contexts. In French, the word "montage" applied to cinema simply de ...

s of "camp life," there is a painter standing by an easel, who is portrayed by playwright Tim Toyama, who stepped in at the last moment when the person cast to play the part didn't show up for filming. * The scene depicting the choir rehearsal has un-credited

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

s by noted actors

Tamlyn Tomita Tamlyn Naomi Tomita (born January 27, 1966) is a Japanese-American actress and singer. She made her screen debut as Kumiko in ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and reprised the character for the streaming series ''Cobra Kai'' (2021). She is also ...

Emily Kuroda Emily Keiko Kuroda (born October 30, 1952) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mrs. Kim on TV's ''Gilmore Girls'', but she has had a long career on stage and screen and is a veteran of East West Players, Los Angeles's premi ...

Sab Shimono is a Japanese-American actor. He began his career on stage on Broadway and in regional theaters, starring in musicals like ''Mame'', ''Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen'', and ''Pacific Overtures''. He has appeared in dozens of movies and television ...

and

Greg Watanabe Greg Watanabe (born November 8, 1967) is an American actor known for his role in ''Watch Over Me''. He also appears in the independent films, Philip Kan Gotanda's ''Life Tastes Good'', '' Only the Brave'' and ''Americanese''. He is a founding membe ...

who are friends of the director.San Diego Asian Film Festival asks Tashima, "... quite an impressive crew & cast (Greg Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Sab Shimono ). How did you get everyone ...?
on SDAFF website

External links

Day of Independence
now available o
Vimeo
*

in

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honolulu Advertiser''). ...

References

{{Reflist 2003 films 2003 short films 2000s sports films American baseball films American films based on plays Films set in the 1940s Films about the internment of Japanese Americans 2000s English-language films 2000s American films