Friday, July 21, 2023, 7pm
Screening: Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust
Directed by Ann Kaneko
Run time: 60 min.
* Q&A with director Ann Kaneko following the screening
At the foot of the majestic snowcapped Sierras, Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp,becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the now-parched “land of flowing water.”Intergenerational women from Native American, Japanese American and rancher communities form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from Los Angeles. A co-production of the Center for Asian American Media and Vision Maker Media.
Filmed over five years, the documentary captures stunning and intimate imagery of Payahuunadü/Owens Valley, combined with archival gems and careful research to narrate this epic tale of the American West. It begins before colonizers came and then shows how the US Army and settlers forced out the Nüümü and Newe; how the LA Aqueduct sucked the Valley dry; how incarcerated Japanese Americans made the land green again; how Patsiata/Owens Lake became a health hazard and how this Valley now bears the pain of these stories and the consequences of losing water to diversion.