The story of Estelle Ishigo, one of the few Caucasians interned with Japanese Americans during World War II. The wife of a Japanese American, Ishigo refused to be separated from her husband and was interned along with him. Based on the personal papers of Estelle Ishigo and her novel Lone Heart Mountain.
Direction
Okazaki's restrained hand lets Ishigo's sketches scream.
Production
Personal papers woven into living history, not dusty archive.
Director
Steven Okazaki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ishigo was literally the only white woman in most camps—her presence disrupted the binary of 'victim' and 'perpetrator' that dominated postwar narratives.
Steven Okazaki found her papers in a Pasadena basement in 1985; she'd died forgotten in 1990, months before filming began. The documentary premiered at Sundance the following year.
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