Betrayed: Surviving an American Concentration Camp tells the story of a group of Americans and their mass incarceration by the U.S. government in the high desert of southern Idaho, purely on the basis of race. In the compelling voices of survivors of the camp, Betrayed explores the unconstitutional suspension of the civil rights of Japanese Americans in the Pacific Northwest and the intergenerational impact of the incarceration on their community. The film explores the relevance of this story today, as we see camp survivors stepping up as modern-day activists to fight the present-day incarceration of children and families. We were honored to interview and speak with over 40 camp survivors and descendants in order to help tell their story.
In conjunction with the one-hour film, this project also includes an educational program crafted by professional curriculum writers, giving schools and teachers the resources necessary to bring the incarceration story into the classroom, with focused short films and insightful study guides. We will give educators the tools to engage middle and high school students in focused conversations about exclusion, identity, and equal justice. The incarceration history is a critical case study for educational dialogue in civics that has often been missing from the classroom. By providing these engaging resources to educators, free of charge, we will remove many of the roadblocks that have prevented the incarceration story from being taught in schools and will enable a new generation to move forward with a greater understanding of the civil rights tragedies of our past.
Our production team is a collaboration between North Shore Productions, based in Portland, and Friends of Minidoka, based in Twin Falls, Idaho.