Day of Independence
poster design: Dennis Mukai
Genre	drama
Running time	27 min.
Creator(s)	Cedar Grove Productions
Director(s)	Chris Tashima
Producer(s)	Lisa Onodera
Writer(s)	Chris Tashima & Tim Toyama based on the play, Independence Day, by Tim Toyama
Starring	Derek Mio Marcus Toji Alan Muraoka Keiko Kawashima Gina Hiraizumi Chris Tashima
Music by	Scott Nagatani
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Original channel	KHET / PBS Hawai'i
Release date(s)	May 12, 2005
IMDb profile

Day of Independence is a short film, broadcast as a half-hour PBS television special. It is a drama, set during the Japanese American internment of World War II, produced by Cedar Grove Productions. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Cedar Grove Productions was founded in 1996 by playwright Tim Toyama, actor/director Chris Tashima, producer Chris Donahue and actor/director Tom Donaldson. ... Chris Tashima is an American actor and director. ... Lisa Onodera is an American independent film producer, of such noted films as Picture Bride, The Debut and Americanese. ... Chris Tashima is an American actor and director. ... Tim Toyama was born in 1952 in Chicago, IL. He is a Sansei playwright and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. His plays have been produced at The Complex, in Los Angeles, and The Road Theatre Company, at the Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood, California. ... Tim Toyama was born in 1952 in Chicago, IL. He is a Sansei playwright and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. His plays have been produced at The Complex, in Los Angeles, and The Road Theatre Company, at the Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood, California. ... Chris Tashima is an American actor and director. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... KHET, also called PBS Hawaii, is the only PBS member station in Hawaii. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Short subject is an American film industry term that historically has referred to any film in the format of two reels, or approximately 20 minutes running time, or less. ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... A television special is a television program, typically a short film or television movie intended to debut in prime time, the term used to define any television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. ... Jerome War Relocation Center in Jerome, Arkansas Japanese American Internment was the forced removal of approximately 120,000[1] Japanese and Japanese Americans (62 percent of whom were United States citizens)[2][3] from the West Coast of the United States during World War II. While approximately 10,000 were... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Cedar Grove Productions was founded in 1996 by playwright Tim Toyama, actor/director Chris Tashima, producer Chris Donahue and actor/director Tom Donaldson. ...

Tagline

A desert. A baseball diamond. A friendship. American, 1943

History

The story of the film is based on playwright and executive producer Tim Toyama's own father's World War II experience. During the war, Toyama's father, whose nickname was Zip, was sent along with his entire family to a U.S. concentration camp for Japanese Americans. Zip's Issei (Japanese immigrant) father fell ill and elected to return to Japan, along with Zip's mother, on a prisoner exchange ship, called the Gripsholm. However, the parents told Zip that as an American, he should remain in the U.S. Tim Toyama was born in 1952 in Chicago, IL. He is a Sansei playwright and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. His plays have been produced at The Complex, in Los Angeles, and The Road Theatre Company, at the Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood, California. ... // A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Bob, Rob, Robby, Robbie, Robi, Robin, Bobby, Rab, Rabbie, Bert, Bertie, Butch, Bobbers, Bobert, Beto, Bobadito, and Robban (in Sweden), are all nicknames for Robert). ... Jerome War Relocation Center in Jerome, Arkansas Japanese American Internment was the forced removal of approximately 120,000[1] Japanese and Japanese Americans (62 percent of whom were United States citizens)[2][3] from the West Coast of the United States during World War II. While approximately 10,000 were... Categories: | | ...

Background

Toyama wrote a play based on his family history, entitled "Independence Day." He and director Chris Tashima then adapted the play into a short film, which was produced by Lisa Onodera. The film was shot in 6 days, in Sockton, California and in Los Angeles. It was completed in 2003 and played in over 70 film and video festivals and competitions, winning 25 awards. Following its broadcast premiere on KHET/PBS Hawai'i on May 12, 2005, the film received a Regional Emmy nomination, from the NATAS San Francisco/Northern California Chapter (which includes Hawaii), in the category of Historical/Cultural – Program/Special. Toyama (富山市; -shi) is the capital city of Toyama Prefecture, Japan. ... Chris Tashima is an American actor and director. ... Lisa Onodera is an American independent film producer, of such noted films as Picture Bride, The Debut and Americanese. ... City nickname: Californias Sunrise Seaport City slogan: Stocktons Great, Take A Look! County: San Joaquin Area code: 209 ZIP code: 952xx Area:  - Total  - Water 144. ... KHET, also called PBS Hawaii, is the only PBS member station in Hawaii. ... An Emmy Award. ... // National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences NATAS is an acronym for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the organization which distributes the Daytime Emmy Awards in the United States. ...

Synopsis

A young baseball player faces the tragic circumstances of the internment of 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. Set in a relocation camp in 1943, Day of Independence chronicles a family torn apart by a forced, unjust incarceration, a father's decision that challenges his son, and ultimately his son's triumph through courage, sacrifice and the All-American game of baseball.

Awards

(partial list)

• Emmy Nomination - 35th Northern California Emmy Awards
• CINE Golden Eagle
• Platinum Best of Show - Aurora Awards
• Best Short - Stony Brook Film Festival
• Best Narrative Short - Tambay Film & Video Festival
• "Slate" Award, Best Short - California Independent Film Festival
• Best Short Film - Houston Multicultural Independent Film Festival
• Gold / 1st Prize - Crested Butte Reel Fest
• Audience Award, Best Drama - Marco Island Film Festival

An Emmy Award. ... An Emmy Award. ... CINE is a consortium formulated to depict American life and thought realistically for a global audience. ... Banner advertising the film festival at Stony Brook University. ...

Trivia

• A scene depicting a choir rehearsal has un-credited cameo appearances by noted actors Tamlyn Tomita, Emily Kuroda, Sab Shimono and Greg Watanabe who are friends of the director.
• During one of the montage sequences of "camp life," there is a painter standing by an easel, who is portrayed by playwright Tim Toyama, who stepped in at the last moment when the person cast to play the part didn't show up for filming.

Martin Scorsese appears briefly in an uncredited role in this scene from his feature film Taxi Driver. ... Tamlyn Tomita (Born January 27, 1966, Okinawa) is a half-Japanese, half-Filipino actress who starred in many Hollywood films. ... Emily Kuroda is best known for her work on TVs Gilmore Girls, but she has had a long career on stage and screen and is a veteran of East West Players, Los Angeles premier Asian-American theater group. ... Sab Shimono (born Saburo Shimono July 31, 1943) is an American actor of Japanese American descent. ... Greg Watanabe is an American actor who played Issac on the MyNetworkTV serial Watch Over Me. ... For other uses of the word montage, see Montage. ... Tim Toyama was born in 1952 in Chicago, IL. He is a Sansei playwright and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. His plays have been produced at The Complex, in Los Angeles, and The Road Theatre Company, at the Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood, California. ...

External links

• Day of Independence at the Internet Movie Database