Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo
Encyclopedia
Days of Waiting is a documentary
short film by Steven Okazaki
, about Estelle Ishigo, a Caucasian artist who went voluntarily to an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II
. The film was inspired by Ishigo's book, "Lone Heart Mountain", and won an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
and a Peabody Award
.
, when 110,000 Japanese American
s were forcibly relocated from the West Coast
, to various American concentration camps
, Estelle Peck Ishigo refused to be separated from her Nisei Japanese American husband. She voluntarily accompanied him to the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center
. A painter and illustrator, Ishigo documented her experience through her art. She later published these works and wrote about her experience in her book, "Lone Heart Mountain," which along with personal papers, were the basis of the film. She was discovered living in destitution in her senior years, by the filmmakers as they researched her story.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
short film by Steven Okazaki
Steven Okazaki
Steven Okazaki is an American filmmaker. He is Sansei Japanese American and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area...
, about Estelle Ishigo, a Caucasian artist who went voluntarily to an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
. The film was inspired by Ishigo's book, "Lone Heart Mountain", and won an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
This is a list of films by year that have received an Oscar together with the other nominations for best documentary short subject. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year.-1940s:*1941...
and a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
.
Background
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when 110,000 Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
s were forcibly relocated from the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, to various American concentration camps
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
, Estelle Peck Ishigo refused to be separated from her Nisei Japanese American husband. She voluntarily accompanied him to the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center
Heart Mountain War Relocation Center
The Heart Mountain Relocation Center, named after nearby Heart Mountain, was one of ten internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans excluded from the West Coast during World War II under the provisions of Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
. A painter and illustrator, Ishigo documented her experience through her art. She later published these works and wrote about her experience in her book, "Lone Heart Mountain," which along with personal papers, were the basis of the film. She was discovered living in destitution in her senior years, by the filmmakers as they researched her story.
Awards
- Academy Award for Documentary Short SubjectAcademy Award for Documentary Short SubjectThis is a list of films by year that have received an Oscar together with the other nominations for best documentary short subject. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year.-1940s:*1941...
- 63rd Academy Awards63rd Academy AwardsThe 63rd Academy Awards were presented March 25, 1991 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The show was hosted by Billy Crystal.The prominent winner was Dances with Wolves which earned seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Joe Pesci winning Best Supporting Actor...
(1991) - Peabody AwardPeabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
– as presentation in PBS TV series, P.O.V.P.O.V.POV is a Public Broadcasting Service Public television series which features independent nonfiction films. POV is a cinema term for "point of view"....
(1991) - Gran Prix, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (1991)
External links
- Days of Waiting on farallon films site
- Lone Heart Mountain manuscript by Estelle Ishigo, at the Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA, via Calisphere.