Written, directed and produced by Antonia Grace Glenn. Edited and produced by Gregory Pacificar. Original music by Dave Iwataki.
Winner of five film festival awards, The Ito Sisters captures the rarely told stories of the earliest Japanese immigrants to the United States and their American-born children. The three sisters at the heart of the film – Nancy, Lillian and Hedy – are memorable and engaging characters, who in their 80’s and 90’s share stories of humor, hardship and heartbreak, dating back to their father’s immigration from Japan to the US in 1897. The sisters offer a rare first-hand account of their family’s struggle to become American in the face of a series of natural and man-made disasters.
The family’s chronicle is set against the backdrop of the Anti-Japanese Movement, a 60-year campaign by politicians, journalists, landowners and others that culminated in the forced removal and incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast during World War II. The film features scholar commentary from Evelyn Nakano Glenn (UC Berkeley), Dorinne Kondo (USC), Michael Omi (UC Berkeley) and Jere Takahashi (UC Berkeley). Running time: 80 min.
