The Japanese American National Museum Presents Before They Take Us Away on April 15, 2023

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) will present a live screening of Before They Take Us Away on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 2 p.m.–4 p.m. Tickets are included in the price of admission to JANM ($16 for adults and $9 for seniors, students, and youth) and can be purchased at janm.org/events.

Before They Take Us Away captures the previously untold stories of Japanese Americans who voluntarily removed themselves from the West Coast in the wake of Executive Order 9066 during World War II. It also draws parallels between the World War II Japanese American experience and today’s political climate, including the rise in anti-Asian hate and racial violence during the pandemic.

The documentary film was conceptualized by Dr. Evelyn Nakano Glenn, a renowned sociologist, founding director of the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley, and camp survivor. She conducted video interviews with over thirty people and narrates the film, which includes her memories of wartime displacement and traumatic family separation. Before They Take Us Away also features historical and cultural commentary by Michael Omi, professor emeritus of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and community activists Pam Matsuoka and Ryan Takemiya. Acclaimed musician Dave Iwataki created the film’s original score.

Before They Take Us Away is the winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Documentary at the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon, the Best Japanese American Award at the Japan Film Festival Los Angeles, and the Grand Festival Award for Documentary at the Berkeley Video Film Festival.

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About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, JANM promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories and strives to provide a voice for Japanese Americans as well as a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over 70 exhibitions onsite while traveling 17 exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. JANM is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday–Sunday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and is free on Thursday from 12 p.m.–8 p.m. Starting in January 2023, JANM will be free every third Thursday of the month. On all other Thursdays, JANM will be free from 5 p.m.–8 p.m. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.