“Nisei” Film Wins Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Drama at Cinequest
This Veteran’s Day, San José State University filmmakers and Radio, Television and Film students will ask: What do you know about the 442nd Regimental Combat Team?
The 442nd was a segregated Japanese American team who served in World War II. The team is also recognized as the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of the U.S. military, according to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
Many of the men who served in the 442nd did so while members of their families were forcibly relocated to incarceration camps across the United States. Among those brave soldiers was Sergeant Minoru Miyasaki, San Francisco Bay Area native and son to Japanese immigrants — and years later, grandfather to screenwriter and director Darren Haruo Rae, ’13 Radio,Television and Film.
“I really believe that my grandfather’s generation deserves to be called ‘The Greatest Generation,’” said Rae, who returned to San José State University this summer to produce “Nisei,” a short feature based on his grandfather’sdiaries.
“So many of them gave the ultimate sacrifice to prove their loyalty to a country that had incarcerated their families — yet it was so difficult for them to share their stories, because they were afraid of passing on their shame or trauma. That’s why it’s so important that we record their stories.”
The 20-minute film was filmed at San José State’s University Theater, the Japanese American History Museum in San José and in Petaluma, where SJSU students enrolled in Spartan Film Studios. The film, co-produced by Roann Films, a company founded by Martinez, Rae and fellow Spartan Jessica Olthof, ’13 Radio, Television and Film, is currently in post-production with an early 2023 release date.
