Press

An American Tradition

“At the Philly screening of Konrad Aderer’s Resistance at Tule Lake, I might have had much in common with the young woman sitting next to me. Our grandfathers both survived World War II. Both of mine served in the U.S. Armed Forces, fighting fascism overseas. One of her grandfathers was incarcerated in California by the U.S. government for being the child of Japanese immigrants.​”

Resistance at Tule Lake Set for National Broadcast Premiere

“Brought to visceral life with emotionally wrenching interviews, never-before-seen archival images, and stunning color footage taken inside the camp, the story of Tule Lake unravels racially codified standards of ‘loyalty’ and illuminates today’s most urgent discussions of nationality and citizenship.”

Recollections of Internment Camp Remain with Octogenarian

“When Eddie Kobayashi recalls Easter Sunday from his childhood days, one that stands out was in 1942. The then 5-year-old and his family evacuated to an assembly center, a temporary camp used while permanent internment camps were built during World War II. His father’s story was told as part of a documentary called ‘Resistance at Tule Lake,’ which is showing across the country this year.”

JCC*, UIJ co-host Day of Remembrance event to memorialize Japanese-American incarceration

A student-led panel discussion followed the screening. Seniors Joseph Tsuboi and Anna Kimura, members of JCC*, recounted their family connections to incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry. Describing her ancestors’ struggles with incarceration, Kimura drew links between incarceration in the past and the present day. “The narrative is the same but the bodies are different. When we’re talking about history, it’s important to [think about] what’s happening today.”

Resistance at Tule Lake—Talking with Filmmaker Konrad Aderer

“In these difficult political times, resistance appears every day—from marches to political organizing to Star Wars movies to hashtags. But for many within the Japanese American community, resistance remains a difficult and painful topic. Sansei Konrad Aderer’s latest documentary, Resistance at Tule Lake, seeks to address that topic, focusing on the most controversial of the ten long-term concentration camps by the War Relocation Authority.”

Resistance at Tule Lake: A Hidden History of Japanese American Incarceration and Defiance

“The documentary, which is being screened at select venues, gives audiences a rarely-heard opportunity to listen the voices of those who were unexpectedly plunged into ‘a hell,’ as one survivor recounts, but maintained the strength not only to survive, but also to fight back.”

From Hiroshima to Tule Lake, Films About Japan and America

“Interviewing survivors, and traveling on a pilgrimage to the desolate remains of the Tule Lake relocation camp in far Northern California, Mr. Aderer shows that the narrative of stoic obedience in the face of repression and imprisonment is radically incomplete… Toggling among fascinating, often sorrowful film and photographs from the period, and the still vivid anger of the now elderly former prisoners, ‘Resistance at Tule Lake’ is a potent piece of history at a time when the United States is once again feeling less than hospitable.”

Resistance at Tule Lake: Film Looks at WW2 Internment

“More than 120,000 Japanese-Americans were held at internment camps in the US during the 1940s because they were viewed as a security threat. New documentary, Resistance at Tule Lake, looks at some of the internees’ resistance to incarceration at one California detention camp. BBC Talking Moves’ Tom Brook reports.”

From Hiroshima to Tule Lake, Films About Japan and America

“For many viewers, ‘Resistance at Tule Lake’ will not be an easy watch… The newsreels showcase the complete obliviousness of the American public’s perspective on Japanese [incarceration]. The interviews from surviving Japanese internees are maddeningly depressing as they nonchalantly tell of their experiences in the camps. They fight back tears as they tell their story, yet they end each harrowing tale of deprivation and humiliation with the same sentiment: that they still love this country and are proud to be Americans.”

#SDAFF Spring Showcase: RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE Demonstrated How The Struggle Is REAL

“This particular film directed by Japanese American filmmaker Konrad Aderer provides a deep insight into the resistance movement of the Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Tule Lake Segregation Center, and quashes the idea that Asians are obedient, non-confrontational, don’t voice their dissent and are happy to be apart of the model minority myth.”

Interview with Konrad Aderer: Telling a dramatic story through real-life experiences is a very powerful way to engage people in an issue

“When I was making my first film ‘Enemy Alien’ about a Palestinian activist Farouk, I was looking for a parallel in Japanese-American history. I found it in Tule Lake. Pretty much everything that he did: conduct hunger strikes, reason with his captors, fight illegal cases on base of constitutional principles—that’s all the things that Japanese Americans did at Tule Lake. And they had the same kind of consequences—beating, torture, deportation, yet they still persisted, which is why I felt this story was invaluable to tell because it was so little-known.”

“‘Resistance at Tule Lake’ reifies both the strength of people and the inexcusable, illegal actions of a government that has made a tradition of subjugating its citizens. The proud Americans dragged to this camp fought for their constitutional rights and were rebuked for it… As a nation of immigrants and contradictions, we must establish the fight for equality and justice as an active goal — not a pipe dream.” “

RESISTANCE AT TULE LAKE – Konrad Aderer Interview

Resistance at Tule Lake Sheds New Light on Inmates’ Organized Protests

“Tule Lake’s protesters will be remembered and cherished as the Nikkei community’s civil rights heroes.”