Day of Independence

Day of Independence is a 2003 short film, broadcast in 2005 as a half-hour PBS television special. It is a drama, set during the Japanese American internment of World War II, produced by Cedar Grove Productions with Visual Communications as fiscal sponsor.
History.
The story of the film is based on playwright and executive producer Tim Toyama's own father's World War II experience. During the war, Toyama's father, whose nickname was Zip, was sent along with his entire family to a U.S. internment camp for Japanese Americans. Zip's "Issei" (Japanese immigrant) father fell ill and elected to return to Japan, along with Zip's mother, on a prisoner exchange ship, called the MS "Gripsholm". However, the parents told Zip that as an American, he should remain in the U.S.
Background.
Toyama wrote a play based on his family history, "Independence Day". He and director Chris Tashima then adapted the play into a short film, which was produced by Lisa Onodera. The film was shot in 6 days, in Stockton, California and in Los Angeles. It was completed in 2003 and played in over 70 film and video festivals and competitions, winning 25 awards. Following its broadcast premiere on KHET/PBS Hawai'i on May 12, 2005, the film received a Regional Emmy nomination, from the NATAS San Francisco/Northern California Chapter (which includes Hawaii), in the category of Historical/Cultural – Program/Special.
Synopsis.
A young baseball player faces the tragic circumstances of the internment of 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. Set in a relocation camp in 1943, "Day of Independence" chronicles a family torn apart by a forced, unjust incarceration, a father's decision that challenges his son, and ultimately his son's triumph through courage, sacrifice and the All-American game of baseball.