Films of Remembrance | Saturday, March 28 — Tateuchi Democracy Forum, JANM, Little Tokyo
Please note: due to a large public demonstration expected in Little Tokyo on Saturday, the program schedule has been adjusted with earlier start times. The full program of films and filmmaker discussions is still taking place, followed by a Filmmakers Reception at Far Bar. Please allow extra travel time for parking and transit.
Little Tokyo | Tateuchi Democracy Forum at Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
UPDATED
LITTLE TOKYO Programs on Saturday, March 28, 2026, 11:00 am – 8:30 pm
Loyalty Questioned (11:00 am – 12:03 pm)
Artistic Interpretations (12:15 pm – 1:17 pm)
Assembly Centered (1:30 pm – 2:35 pm)
Identity Explored (3:00 pm – 4:15 pm)
Showcase Presentation: Third Act (4:30 pm – 6:15 pm)
Filmmaker Reception (7:00 pm -8:30 pm) at Far Bar, 347 East First Street in Little Tokyo
Forwarded for Nichi Bei Foundation
After record Bay Area screenings last month, the 15th annual Films of Remembrance is heading to Southern California on March 28-29 — presented in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum and the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute.
The program features 10 films commemorating the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. This year’s lineup includes “Third Act,” Tadashi Nakamura’s award-winning documentary about his father, pioneering filmmaker Robert A. Nakamura; an animated short illustrated by legendary Disney animator Willie Ito, based on the true story of Heart Mountain incarceree Shigeru Yabu, who was forcibly removed from his San Francisco home and sent to Wyoming as a child; and a short documentary about 92-year-old June Aochi Berk’s journey from prewar Little Tokyo to a horse stall at Santa Anita to the Rohwer concentration camp — and eventually to being crowned Nisei Week Queen.
These films document one of the most significant violations of civil liberties in American history — and they do so in deeply personal and intimate ways. At a moment when history itself is under assault and communities are witnessing the erasure of their experiences from public life, films like these refuse that erasure. They remind us how fragile democracy and civil rights can be, and why remembering matters now as much as ever.
This is one of the only opportunities to see these films together on a big screen with the filmmakers present for post-screening discussions. If you’re in Southern California or know someone who would appreciate this program, please share this email with them — a personal recommendation is the best way to help these stories reach a wider audience.
Saturday, March 28 — Tateuchi Democracy Forum, JANM, Little Tokyo.
Includes a special Filmmakers Reception following the screening of Third Act, with a special performance by Kendyl Sayuri Yokoyama, an LA native who recently closed the national tour of Hamilton as Eliza Hamilton.
Sunday, March 29 — Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute, Gardena
Tickets and full program: 2026.filmsofremembrance.org.
Students with ID: FREE!
Presenting Sponsor: Takahashi Foundation
Reception Sponsor: Kinjiro and Eiko Morigichi Fund
Bronze Sponsors: George and Sakaye Aratani Care Award and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center
In Partnership with: Japanese American National Museum and Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute