SUNDAY, October 20

Part 1: 10:00 am - 12:45 pm
Featuring “Kintsukuroi,” and Q&A with filmmaker Kerwin Berk, Director; Ryan Takemiya, Actor; Kealani Kitaura, Actor; Kiyomi Koide, Actor; Ron Munekawa, Actor

Moderator Chizu Omori, Activist and Filmmaker

FILM FEATURE:

kintsukuroi

With a stroke of his pen President Roosevelt destroyed the lives of 120,000 Japanese Americans at the onset of World War II. From the windswept prison camps of the American West to the the battlefields of Europe, KINTSUKUROI follows the lives of two of those families who lost everything except their dignity.

Q&A GUESTS

  • Kerwin Berk

    Kerwin Berk - Director

    Kerwin Berk is a sansei, born and raised in San Francisco's Japantown and still calls The City his home.

    He is an award-winning journalist who worked at newspapers and wire services ifor more than 20 years. His last stop was at his hometown newspaper - The Chronicle.

    Today, he is a freelance writer and independent filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed award-winning films and web series such as “The Virtues of Corned Beef Hash,” “Infinity & Chashu Ramen” and “Gold Mountain.”

    Ikeibi Films is dedicated to the idea that Asian Americans need to tell their own stories in their own voice using our own talent both in front of and behind the camera.

  • Ryan Takemiya - Actor

    Ryan Takemiya made his theatrical debut as Joe Yamaguchi in the world premier of "Valley of the Heart" by Luis Valdez. He has also been a member of the Ragged Wing Theatre Ensemble and has appeared in many independent films produced in the Bay Area.  Ryan is a proud 4th and 5th generation Californian of Japanese and Chinese descent. 

  • KEALANI KITAURA- ACTOR

    Kealani Kitaura, born and raised in the Bay Area, graduated from UC Davis, majoring in Studio Art with an emphasis in Experimental Video.  She worked for the US Geological Survey as a documentary editor, lived in Japan for a couple years, then moved back to the bay to pursue filmmaking.  She is currently a freelance producer splitting time between LA and the Bay Area.

  • Ron Munekawa - Actor

    Ron Munekawa is a third generation Japanese American/Sansei. His parents' families were in Tule Lake incarceration camp for the entire duration of the war. He hopes that the message of "nothing like this happens to anyone ever again" resonates with the viewing of the film, Kintsukuroi.

  • Kiyomi Koide- Actor

    Kiyomi Koide was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan. She joined the cast of Kintsukuroi in the midst of Covid to help with the Japanese translation, and ended up playing a character!

  • Chizu Omori

    Chizu Omori- Moderator

    Chizu Omori, born in 1930, was incarcerated with her family in a WWII concentration camp at age 12. Her passion for civil rights grew at UC Berkeley, later becoming active in the Japanese American redress movement. She co-produced the Emmy-winning documentary “Rabbit In the Moon.” A longtime columnist, she received the Clifford Uyeda Peace Award in 2020. Omori serves on committees like Tsuru for Solidarity, educating the public on Japanese American incarceration history.