Educational Media Reviews Online

In the hysteria that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor and the success of the Japanese forces in the Pacific during the early stages of World War II, 110,000 Japanese-Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes to remote detention camps by the United States government. In After Silence, their story is told by Dr. Frank Kitamoto while he develops archival photographic prints with high school students from his community, Brainbridge Island, WA. The photographs stir Kitamoto’s memories of the day the soldiers arrived to intern the Japanese Americans in his community, the modicum of normalcy they tried to maintain in the detention centers, and the shame this episode brought to the community. The students are confronted with the measures taken by their government during a time of war. They wonder how they would react if their friends were removed from the community because of their ethnicity, and how they would feel if they were fighting in the army while our government was suspending the civil rights of their families in the name defending the nation. Kitamoto shares this story of exclusion and incarceration because he believes that the Japanese-American experience during World War II should be well known, and because he hopes that it may encourage individuals to speak out when confronted with a similar situation.

Lois Shelton does a nice job of supplementing Kitamoto’s recollections with archival photos, film footage, and letters written by the Japanese-Americans during their detention. As this film deals with the constitutional rights of Americans during times of crisis, it is appropriate viewing for those living in post 9/11 United States. It should serve well as a tool to promote discussion of civil rights, citizenship, discrimination, the dehumanizing effects of war, and the challenge of maintaining constitutional rights in times of crisis. After Silence is recommended for viewers from Junior High through adult and to the libraries that serve them.