On Sunday, May 31, at 12 p.m., the historic Gardena Cinema will host a special community screening event that brings together two powerful documentary films connected by one shared purpose: to illuminate overlooked chapters of the Japanese American wartime experience and honor the resilience of those who endured injustice without surrendering their dignity.
The event will feature a screening of the celebrated documentary “The Manzanar Fishing Club,” followed by the public debut community screening of its companion film, “Little Guayule: The Lost Manzanar Rubber Project.” Together, the two films offer a deeply human portrait of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II — not as passive victims of history, but as individuals who found ways to preserve identity, purpose, creativity, and service even under the weight of government-sanctioned injustice.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A moderated by actress and community advocate Tamlyn Tomita, whose own family and cultural ties bring added meaning to the event.
Special guests are expected to include Manzanar incarcerees and film participants Sets Tomita (Tomita’s uncle) and Mas Okui; Bruce Embrey, co-chair of the Manzanar Committee; filmmaker Cory Shiozaki; and writer-producer Richard Imamura.
Also joining the discussion will be scholars and scientists whose expertise connects the wartime guayule project to broader questions of science, agriculture, history, and memory: Dr. Colleen McMahan, individual research scientist specializing in guayule and current commercial development; Dr. Betty Smocovitis of the University of Florida; Dr. Glenn Kageyama of Cal Poly Pomona; and Dr. Mark Cruz, a Bridgestone scientist working in guayule breeding and genetics.
For the Japanese American community, the event represents more than a film screening; it is a recovery of memory.
A Forgotten Wartime Story
“Little Guayule” explores a little-known chapter of World War II history: the effort to develop guayule, a desert shrub capable of producing natural rubber, at the Manzanar War Relocation Center.
After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the rapid expansion of war across the Pacific, the U.S. faced a serious rubber shortage. Much of the world’s natural rubber supply had been cut off by the war, creating an urgent need for domestic alternatives. Guayule, a plant native to arid regions of the American Southwest and Mexico, became one possible answer.
At Manzanar in the Owens Valley, where more than 10,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated behind barbed wire, a research project was organized under the leadership of Dr. Robert Emerson, a noted plant physiologist from Caltech. Emerson, a Quaker and a man sympathetic to the plight of Japanese Americans, reportedly agreed to lead the project only if he could assemble a team of Japanese American scientists, botanists, chemists, horticulturists, gardeners, and agricultural specialists from among those incarcerated.
That decision gave imprisoned Japanese Americans the opportunity to apply their knowledge and expertise to a national wartime emergency — even as the same nation had stripped them of their homes, livelihoods, freedom, and civil rights.
The moral contradiction at the center of the story is impossible to ignore.
Here were Japanese Americans — many of them American citizens — confined by their own government because of war hysteria, racism, and a failure of political leadership. They had been dehumanized, stigmatized, and treated as threats without evidence or due process. Yet within that confinement, many still chose to contribute to the country that had so gravely wronged them.
The guayule project at Manzanar stands as a powerful example of that undying spirit.
It was not an act of submission. It was an act of character.
Service in the Face of Injustice
The story of Japanese American incarceration is often told through the lens of loss: lost homes, lost businesses, lost farms, lost freedom, lost years. Those losses remain central and must never be minimized.
But “Little Guayule” asks audiences to consider another dimension of the incarceration experience: the willingness of Japanese Americans to continue serving, building, researching, teaching, growing, and contributing even when their loyalty had been questioned and their humanity diminished.
This was the same generation that produced the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service linguists, whose wartime service became legendary. It was also the generation of farmers, scientists, students, artists, fishermen, parents, and elders who found ways to endure behind barbed wire.
At Manzanar, the guayule project became one of those acts of endurance.
The Japanese American specialists who worked on the project brought with them knowledge of agriculture, plant science, chemistry, horticulture, and field labor. Some had professional training. Others had deep practical expertise developed through years of farming and gardening.
Their skills were not theoretical. They were rooted in lived experience, discipline, and a commitment to excellence.
Their work on guayule did not erase the injustice of incarceration. Nothing could. But it revealed something essential about the people who were incarcerated: they were loyal Americans, capable professionals, and human beings of extraordinary resilience.
They were not the enemy.
They were Americans who had been wronged by America — and who still found ways to serve.
Adding Depth to the Conversation
The May 31 screening will be especially significant because of the invited guests who will help connect the film’s historical story to present-day research and scholarship.
That connection is important. The Manzanar experts include Dr. Colleen McMahan, a research scientist expected to share her insight into the continuing involvement in guayule development in the U.S. Her participation links the wartime research at Manzanar to current scientific efforts to develop guayule as a sustainable domestic source of natural rubber.
The guayule project was not merely an obscure wartime experiment. It was part of a larger scientific effort whose relevance continues today as the U.S. looks for resilient agricultural alternatives and domestic sources of critical materials.
Dr. Betty Smocovitis, a professor of history and biology at the University of Florida, brings a historian’s perspective to the story. Her scholarship has explored the life and work of Japanese American geneticist Masuo Kodani, whose scientific research continued during wartime incarceration. Her presence will help audiences understand the broader world of Japanese American scientists whose careers and contributions were disrupted, constrained, or obscured by incarceration.
Dr. Glenn Kageyama, a professor in the Biological Sciences Department at Cal Poly Pomona, adds a deeply personal and academic connection to the event. His father, Frank Kageyama, was a key horticulturist on the Manzanar guayule research and development team selected under Dr. Emerson’s leadership. Through Dr. Kageyama’s participation, the screening will connect historical memory not only to scholarship, but to family legacy.
Dr. Mark Cruz is a principal researcher in guayule breeding and genetics at Bridgestone Tires, bringing a modern, real-world perspective on the future of guayule as a sustainable rubber source.
Together, these guests will help frame “Little Guayule” as more than a documentary about a plant. It is a story about science under confinement, expertise under suspicion, and service under injustice.
From “Manzanar Fishing Club” to “Little Guayule”
The event is being presented by the filmmakers of “The Manzanar Fishing Club,” the award-winning documentary that revealed another remarkable story from behind barbed wire.
Directed by Cory Shiozaki and written by Richard Imamura, “The Manzanar Fishing Club” told the story of incarcerated Japanese Americans who slipped away from camp to fish the waters of the Eastern Sierra. The film became widely respected for its unusual and deeply human perspective on incarceration. Rather than focusing only on confinement, it showed how fishing became a quiet act of resistance, dignity, and spiritual survival.
For many viewers, the film changed how they understood Manzanar. It showed that even in a place built to confine them, Japanese Americans found ways to reconnect with nature, reclaim moments of freedom, and preserve their sense of self.
“Little Guayule” now extends that larger body of work.
Where “The Manzanar Fishing Club” explored the human need for freedom and renewal, “Little Guayule” explores the human capacity for service, scientific contribution, and perseverance. Both films reveal the same essential truth: Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II were never defined by the barbed wire that surrounded them.
They were defined by what they carried within them.
A Long Road to the Screen
The public debut of “Little Guayule” has been a long time coming.
The film was originally commissioned by Nitto Tire, a subsidiary of Toyo Tires, as part of a historical documentary effort. Shiozaki selected his longtime collaborator Richard Imamura to write and help produce the film, building on their previous work together on “The Manzanar Fishing Club.”
But after completion, the film’s release was delayed for years because of corporate and legal complications unrelated to the historical importance of the story itself. For nearly a decade, the documentary remained largely unseen.
Through the persistent efforts of Imamura and others committed to preserving the film, stewardship of “Little Guayule” was eventually transferred to a nonprofit organization, allowing it to finally be shared with the public in an appropriate community setting.
That long delay gives the May 31 screening added weight.
This is not simply the showing of a new documentary. It is the release of a story that nearly disappeared from public view.
For Shiozaki and Imamura, the screening represents the fulfillment of a responsibility: to bring forward a chapter of history that belongs not to a corporation, not to a private archive, but to the Japanese American community and the broader American public.
Gardena as a Meaningful Setting
The choice of Gardena Cinema as the venue also carries special meaning.
Gardena has long held an important place in Southern California’s Japanese American community. After World War II, many Japanese American families rebuilt their lives in Gardena and surrounding South Bay communities. Churches, small businesses, civic organizations, cultural groups, and family networks helped make Gardena a postwar center of Japanese American life.
For Shiozaki, the setting is personal. Raised in Gardena, he attended local schools and has often spoken about his family’s deep connection to the city. His parents, like many Japanese Americans of their generation, endured wartime incarceration and later rebuilt their lives through hard work, community commitment, and faith in the American promise despite having experienced its betrayal.
Showing both films at Gardena Cinema brings the story home in a literal and symbolic way.
The theater becomes more than a screening venue. It becomes a gathering place for memory, recognition, and community reflection.
The Role of Tamlyn Tomita
The post-screening Q&A will be moderated by Tamlyn Tomita, whose presence brings additional resonance to the event.
Tomita has long been recognized not only for her work as an actress, but also for her commitment to community, cultural memory, and Japanese American history. Her connection to the films is personal as well: her uncle, Sets Tomita, is one of the featured Manzanar fishermen and is expected to participate in the panel.
That family connection underscores one of the event’s central themes: history is not abstract. It lives in families. It lives in elders. It lives in stories passed down, sometimes quietly, sometimes painfully, and sometimes only after decades of silence.
By moderating the conversation, Tomita will help bridge the films’ historical themes with the lived experiences of the people and families represented on screen.
Honoring the Witnesses
Among the expected special guests are Sets Tomita and Mas Okui, both connected to the Manzanar experience and to “The Manzanar Fishing Club.” Their presence is especially important at a time when the number of living witnesses to incarceration is rapidly diminishing.
Every opportunity to hear directly from those who experienced Manzanar is precious.
Their stories remind younger generations that incarceration was not a distant abstraction. It happened to real people — children, parents, grandparents, students, workers, artists, fishermen, farmers, scientists, and soldiers’ families. It happened in living memory. And its consequences continue to echo through families and communities today.
Bruce Embrey, co-chair of the Manzanar Committee, will also join the conversation. The Manzanar Committee has played a central role in preserving the history of the camp, educating the public, and ensuring that the lessons of incarceration remain relevant in contemporary discussions of civil rights, democracy, and racial justice.
Why This Screening Matters Now
The debut community screening of “Little Guayule” arrives at a time when the lessons of Japanese American incarceration remain urgently relevant.
The wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans was not an accident. It was the result of war hysteria, racism, economic opportunism, and political failure. It was made possible when fear overwhelmed constitutional principles and when an entire population was treated as suspect because of ancestry.
That history must be remembered not only as a Japanese American story, but as an American warning.
“Little Guayule” adds an important layer to that warning. It shows that even as Japanese Americans were dehumanized and confined, they continued to demonstrate loyalty, skill, discipline, and generosity of spirit. Their service did not excuse the government’s actions. Instead, it exposed the injustice more clearly.
The people imprisoned at Manzanar were never the danger. The danger was what America allowed itself to become in a time of fear.
At the same time, the film also offers a story of hope. It honors the ability of people to create meaning under oppressive conditions. It honors the quiet heroism of those who continued to work, teach, grow, study, and serve. It honors the families who survived and rebuilt.
For the Japanese American community, the screening is a chance to reclaim a nearly forgotten story. For the broader public, it is a chance to better understand the depth, complexity, and humanity of the incarceration experience.
A Community Invitation
The May 31 event at Gardena Cinema will bring together film, history, science, family memory, and community dialogue. It will honor those who endured incarceration, those who preserved the stories, and those who continue to teach future generations why this history matters.
The pairing of “The Manzanar Fishing Club” and “Little Guayule” offers audiences a rare opportunity to see two companion films that approach Manzanar from unexpected angles: one through the quiet freedom of fishing, the other through the disciplined service of scientific research.
Both films ask viewers to look beyond the barbed wire.
Beyond the guard towers were people of talent, humor, intelligence, loyalty, grief, courage, and grace. People who had every reason to turn away from a country that had betrayed them, yet still found ways to contribute to its future.
That is why this screening matters.
It is not only about what happened at Manzanar.
It is about what Japanese Americans carried through Manzanar — and what they gave back despite everything that had been taken from them.
Gardena Cinema is located at 14948 Crenshaw Blvd. Parking is available in the lot next to the theater. Tickets: GardenaCinema.com