‘Alternative Facts’ Screening at Gardena Day of Remembrance

GARDENA — Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute, 1964 W. 162nd St., Gardena, will host its eighth annual Day of Remembrance on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 1:30 to 4 p.m.

Day of Remembrance commemorates the Feb. 19, 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066, which forcibly removed over 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans from the West Coast and sent them to concentration camps across the nation.

This year’s Day of Remembrance program will examine the parallels between what happened in America 77 years ago and what is happening today. It will feature the premiere of Jon Osaki’s “Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066.”

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Osaki, Dale Minami of Fred Korematsu’s legal team, Nicole Oshima of UCLA Nikkei Student Union, and others.

No RSVP is necessary. For more information, call the GVJCI at (310) 324-611 or email info@jci-gardena.org.

“Alternative Facts” is a one-hour documentary feature film about the false information and political influences that led to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. It sheds light on the people and politics that influenced the signing of the infamous Executive Order 9066.

The film exposes the lies used to justify the decision and the cover-up that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It also examines the parallels to the current climate of fear, attitudes towards immigrant communities, and similar attempts to abuse the powers of the government.

Major funding for the film was provided by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Fund and the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Foundation.

Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga, a major figure in the redress movement, was interviewed for the film. She is pictured with Jon Osaki and Mika Osaki.

Osaki is an emerging filmmaker who has directed and produced promotional, educational, narrative, and documentary films. His initial interest in film grew from his desire to share the stories of the San Francisco-based Japanese Community Youth Council, where he has served as executive director since 1996.

Over the past few years, he has had films screened at film festivals and community events across the country. As a filmmaker, Osaki views this genre as the next step in his lifelong pursuit of social justice and equity.

The late Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga, a researcher who played a major role in the Japanese American redress movement of the 1980s, was interviewed for “Alternative Facts” in December 2017.

“At 93 years young, she amazed us with her exuberance and infectious personality,” said Osaki. “We are so grateful for the opportunity to share the incredible role she played in uncovering truth about the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans. Though she never got to see the completed film, Aiko was a major inspiration for ‘Alternative Facts’ and we hope she would have been proud.”

On the Web: https://www.alternativefacts9066.com