Yonsei
2025 | 36m | English
Rachel Michiko Whitney, Elizabeth Reiko Kubota Whitney, Florence Masaye Kubota, Joey Miyashima, Denice Kumagai-Hoy, Marilyn Tokuda, and George Takei.
Starring:
Rachel sets out to adapt her Japanese American mother’s 1980s Hollywood acting struggles into a film she’ll star in. But as she uncovers her grandmother’s WWII internment camp love story and unspoken family history, she becomes conflicted about whether she’s honoring the women in her life or exploiting them.
Summary
Writers & Directors:
Jeff Mizushima & Rachel Michiko Whitney
About the Filmmakers:
Jeff Mizushima is an editor, photographer, and documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Past feature films that he has worked on include ETIENNE!, SAKE-BOMB, and WHO IS LUN*NA MENOH?
Rachel Michiko Whitney is a half-Japanese American filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She most recently acted in and produced a short film, WABI-SABI, a rom-com with a 70s samurai genre twist, written and directed by Josephine Green Zhang (DOLLFACE). She produced and stars in the recently released comedy/mystery feature film SNOW VALLEY, written and directed by the late Brandon Murphy (HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD). She can be seen in Paul Schrader’s THE CARD COUNTER with Oscar Isaac. She acted opposite George Takei in a short film AMERICAN about the Japanese American Internment camps. Rachel graduated with a Mechanical Engineering major and Theater Studies minor from Duke University, where she founded Duke Asian American Theater (DAAT).