Introducing -- War Brides 2.0 !
It's been almost three years since the release of Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight. Our 26-minute film has done remarkably well and continues to screen in communities worldwide.
But in many ways, we're just getting started.
Call it "War Brides 2.0" -- the next stage in our effort to tell the stories of Japanese war brides and get a fix on The Big Picture of immigration history... a subject surely no more relevant, than right now.
War Brides 2.0 is unfolding on three fronts:
> One-hour documentary film. Thanks to a small seed grant from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, we are starting our second film by shooting a series of interviews with war bride families this summer -- broadening the range of backgrounds to more faithfully represent the complex war bride story beyond just our own. This is especially critical, as the voices of these women, and their husbands, vanish.
We have created a non-profit organization – The War Bride Experience, Inc. -- that will allow us to apply for more grants. We also hope to hold fund-raising events around the country in 2019.
> A traveling exhibit. Guided by scholars in Japan and the US, we have researched, written, and submitted a detailed proposal for an exhibit that would go to audiences in the neighborhoods where they live, across the US.
> Educational curriculum. We aim to develop a program that would enable students in junior and senior high schools to delve into the war bride experience and encourage them to debate, analyze and investigate our history for themselves.
News flash...
One of F7GU8's three directors, Kathryn Tolbert, has a new Instagram account! It's packed with stories from 17 states.
Follow her @kathryn.tolbert
...Or view photos + detailed story captions here:
https://instagram.com/kathryn.tolbert.
She is constantly updating her collection of oral histories. Please visit www.warbrideproject.com.
All of this is grist for a new book... As of June 1, she will take another leave of absence from The Washington Post, decamping to Montana later this year. Stay tuned.
Last November found Kathryn (right), and Karen Kasmauski, another F7GU8 director, down in New Orleans, presenting to the annual international conference of the National World War II Museum.
We were honored to join some of the most renowned historians of the war, before an audience of 600. As non-scholars, our inclusion on the bill was unconventional, and there was some trepidation. How would these stories of Japanese women marrying American servicemen be received?
But the response, in a word, was amazing. The audience loved the stories we told, via our trailer and family photographs, and the Q&A was extremely lively.
You can watch it, here... starting at the 13:00 mark: https://livestream.com/nww2m/events/7937246/videos/166144107
Think this is all ancient history? While it's true we've come a long way, a substantial minority of Americans still opposes interracial marriage. That's the upshot of a recent YouGov poll: http://www.newsweek.com/20-percent-america-thinks-interracial-marriage-morally-wrong-poll-finds-845608
This newsletter email group started with the 398 folks who donated to our Kickstarter campaign back in the fall of 2014 and made our short documentary possible. After years of festivals, interviews and other events, our community has grown to nearly 700. We are thrilled that you have stuck with us on this adventure!
As usual, if you have thoughts or comments, please reach out to us at fallsevengetupeight@gmx.com.
Wanna catch up on our old newsletters? Some archived here: http://www.fallsevengetupeight.com/news