Skate Manzanar is a meditation on skateboarding, civil liberties, and memory, produced in collaboration with Martin Wong and Michael Louie of the culture and politics zine “Giant Robot.” The video was inspired by an essay by Martin, “Return to Manzanar,” based on a trip that he and “Giant Robot” publisher Eric Nakamura made to Manzanar, reflecting on skateboarding and reimagining the history of the site.

We filmed Skate Manzanar at the cusp of the new millennium, 60 years after Japanese Americans were forced from their homes on the west coast and imprisoned in concentration camps during World War II. 

Over 10,000 were incarcerated at the Manzanar camp in the California desert. At the time we filmed, the site looked abandoned, but the history was very present. The skateboarding depicted in the film represents Martin Wong and Michael Louie’s artistic interpretation of the site and its intergenerational reach. Skate Manzanar was originally produced for the multi-media performance piece "Amnesia," created by the artist Roger Shimomura. 

SCREENINGS

Alphawood Gallery, Chicago – Amsterdam International Film Festival – Bellevue Art Museum – Japanese American National Museum – Virginia Film Festival