An elderly man is shot dead for no reason other than his ethnicity — Japanese. It is April 11, 1943. James Hatsuaki Wakasa is incarcerated at Topaz Relocation Center in central Utah, one of ten American concentration camps operated by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) during World War II. While on an evening stroll with his small dog, a single shot to his chest by a military guard strikes him dead. A monument created by his friends is erected on the kill site. The authorities order it destroyed. Seventy-seven years later, 2020, two archaeologists following a hand-drawn map find the stone monument that had not been destroyed. Defying the authorities, his friends buried it — a message for the future. Survivors and descendants of Topaz were elated about this astonishing discovery. Without notice, it’s secret unearthing by the Topaz Museum has divided the Japanese American community in unexpected ways.
Directed by Emiko Omori (USA)