Manzanar Fishing Club Film Screening October 4 & 5

THE MANZANAR FISHING CLUB is a multi-faceted examination of the
experiences of persons of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated at the
Manzanar War Relocation Center during World War II. There, some would
find relief from the daily oppression of incarceration by matching wits with
the trout in the surrounding waters of the famed Eastern Sierra fishing
grounds — braving the searchlights and guns of the guard towers and the
barbed wire that surrounded them to do so.

THE MANZANAR FISHING CLUB has grown steadily in scope since it was
first conceived in 2004 by Director/Producer Cory Shiozaki, a Sansei (third-
generation Japanese American). Beginning as a research project to preserve
the stories of the Manzanar fishermen, the documentary has received
much critical acclaim and recognition since its release in late March of this
year, including Certificates of Congressional Recognition and showings in
San Francisco, Seattle, Hawai’i, Los Angeles, and Times Square New York.

“This is a story about maintaining spirit and freedom,” Mr. Shiozaki
explains. “The internees understood that Manzanar was unjust, but they
also knew that escaping would only hurt their cause. There were larger
issues at stake on the nature of patriotism and of Americanism itself . . .
Breathing ‘free’ air outside of fences and towers is the birthright of all
Americans, and fishing gave some Manzanar internees the chance to do
just that.”

10/4

6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
100 GPB (Genetics and Plant Biology Building), UC Berkeley Campus

10/5

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
East Bay Free Methodist Church, 5395 Potrero Avenue, El Cerrito, CA 94530
(Please note that this event is a special screening for JACL members only.)