Sailing for Madagascar is a 2004 short film, written and directed by Tom Oesch

Tom Oesch

Tom Oesch is a Swiss music video director who works in Hollywood, California.- Biography :Oesch grew up in Rebstein, a small rural town in eastern Switzerland, as the son of a doctor. After attending a midnight screening of the movie Jurassic Park in 1993 he decided that he wanted to make movies...

, and starring Aimee Teegarden

Aimee Teegarden

Aimee Richelle Teegarden is an American actress. She starred as Julie Taylor in the NBC series Friday Night Lights, Jenny Randall in the horror film Scream 4, and Nova Prescott in the Disney film Prom.-Career:...

. The film deals with the racial tensions growing in the United States during World War II

World 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...

. The film is also known for its beautiful score by composer Sasha Ivanov.

Sailing for Madagascar won at the "47th Rochester International Film Festival

Rochester International Film Festival

The Rochester International Film Festival is the world's oldest continually held short film festival . The annual program features narratives, documentaries and animation made by emerging filmmakers from the USA and abroad, selected by a pedigree short film jury.Based on audience surveys, the most...

".

Plot

In the winter of 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 throws the United States into a turmoil of paranoia and racism. In the midst of it all, young Bette Warren (Aimee Teegarden) is uprooted to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

with her father, an injured war hero, and her older brother, a young upstart lost in the shadows of his father's military past. Bette quickly finds solace in Scott, the orphaned grandson of her Japanese neighbor. With all the innocence of youth the pair share a common dream of a world untouched by war and hatred. What they could not dream of is the awful reality that awaits them upon discovery of their friendship, and the inevitable pain of innocence lost.

Cast

Actor	Role
Aimee Teegarden	Bette Warren
Brandon Scott	Scott Shimada
Bruce Robert Cole	Phil Warren
Michael Yama	Henry Shimada
Mark R. Gerson	Dan Warren
Christian Margetson	Billy
J.R. Mangels	Joe
Frederik Hamel	Timothy