A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY FILM BY BRIAN TADASHI MAEDA
Protest inside an American Concentration Camp
TRAILER
THE FILM
The film is directed by Brian Tadashi Maeda, who was born in Manzanar.
We Said No! No! is a story of civil disobedience set against the backdrop of World War II and the controversial internment of thousands of “disloyal” Japanese Americans in the most notorious of all the Japanese concentration camps, Tule Lake. It was there that the Japanese Americans who refused to say “yes” to the infamous Loyalty Questionnaire were imprisoned and labeled the “No, No’s.” We Said No! No! follows a group of dissidents deemed disloyal as they fight for their freedom, their dignity and their families in an America that had forsaken them.
The film combines interviews with Japanese Americans and their family members who were once derisively referred to as “No No Boys,” archival footage and photographs, and dramatic reenactments of incidents in the Tule Lake Segregation Center.
The No No Boys
The No No Boys had refused to answer in the affirmative when asked on a so-called loyalty questionnaire if they would serve on combat duty wherever ordered, and if they would swear unqualified allegiance to the United States and forswear any form of allegiance to the emperor of Japan.
“About 10 percent of the populations of the 10 War Relocation Authority camps answered “no-no” on these two questions, and the U.S. government forcibly removed (again) these families to Tule Lake, which became a segregation center. At its peak, the population of Tule Lake grew to 18,000, out of which some 5,000 renounced their U.S. citizenship in preparation for their “repatriation” to Japan. ”
-High Public Interest in Preview of ‘We Said, No! No!’
by Phyllis Hayashibara, The Rafu Shimpo
Screenings
SUMMER/FALL 2023
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Q&A with the Director
FALL 2023
PBS Public Broadcasting System
Watch on TV Nationwide or Online
Gallery
KEY CAST
AS
Tatsuo Inouye
Shigeru Matsuda
Violet Matsuda
George Kuratomi
Reverend Kai
Chief Tada
Tokio Yamane
Mike Masaoka
Kinzo Wakayama
Voice of Rosalie Hankey Wax
Voice of Violet de Cristoforo
FEATURING
Toshiji Takeshima
Hiro Matsunaga
Ikumi Yoshimatsu
Masa Kanome
Naoyuki Ikeda
Toshinobu Kayama
Shinchiro Shimizu
Craig Tsuyumine
Brian Tadashi Maeda
Yumi Iwama
Fusako Shiotani
Violet de Cristoforo, formerly Violet Matsuda
FILMMAKER
Brian Tadashi Maeda
Director, Producer, Writer, and Actor
Brian Tadashi Maeda was born in Manzanar, a World War II American concentration camp. He graduated from UCLA in Cinematography has always wanted to show films from a Japanese American point of view. Brian was one of the first Asian Americans to be accepted in the Hollywood International Cinematographers Guild in the 1970s. He's worked with the likes of Barbra Streisand at the Warner Bros Studio, renowned cinematographer, Haskell Wexler, and on TV shows and features throughout the 70s and 80s such as "Uncommon Valor" with Gene Hackman. Brian started J-Town Pictures in 1990 in order to tell the tumultuous and often untold stories about Asian Americans. His films "Music Man of Manzanar", "Buddha-Heads", and "We Said No! No!" have won critical acclaim at festivals and been played nationally.
CREDITS
KEY
Director & Producer
Director of Photography
Production Designer
Editor/Associate Producer
Music Composer
Production Manager
Assistant Director
Brian Tadashi Maeda
Art Fitzsimmons
James Murakami
Jennifer J. Mayer
Malcolm Cross
Matt Taylor
Valerie Wells
Pin awarded to Brian by IATSE cinematographer’s union in honor of 50 years of service
James Murakami (center) Acclaimed Production Designer, who lived at Tule Lake with his family. He has worked with Clint Eastwood on 10 films.
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