Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/12/2016 --A committed team of experienced filmmakers, including award-winning screenwriter and founder of Little Nalu Pictures, LLC, Koji Steven Sakai, are launching a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to move forward with the production of a critical film for the times, Executive Order 13800. The film will serve as a cautionary tale, warning of the very palpable possibility that the soon-to-be powers that be in the United States may repeat the horrifying mistakes that occurred during the World War II era when Japanese-Americans were imprisoned in concentration camps.
Two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, then President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, forcing entire families to leave their homes and move to prison camps. The forced incarceration was based solely on ancestry. This tragic act robbed more than 100,000 US citizens of their dignity and freedom, and marked a nation that prides itself on being a global leader of progressive ideals with a severe violation of civil liberties.
Koji Steven Sakai is extremely passionate about giving his best to this film, saying, "This is the most important project I've ever worked on. I just wish that when my elementary aged father was put into a 'camp,' there was someone like me telling their story and putting a face to go with all the toxic rhetoric."
Sakai, along with writer and director Mustafa Rony Zeno and producer Phinneas Kiyomura feel a powerful need to create this film as they are concerned that the same tragedy that struck Japanese-Americans during the WWII era could happen to Muslim-Americans. Their fear, which is shared by many in the United States and around the world, is based on the threatening and discriminatory speeches and promises of now President-Elect Donald Trump.
Both Sakai and Kiyomura are descendants of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during the war. The filmmakers have determined that instead of focusing on worrying about what Trump's administration may do, that they would use their skill, experience, and talent to warn the nation of what could happen if people get too caught up in the paranoid and destructive line of thinking that the President-Elect projected during the 2016 election campaign. Executive Order 13800 follows the story of an Arab American family ordered to report to a government site register along with all Muslim Americans after a duo of terrorist attacks in the United States.
The hope is that by sharing the tragedy that befalls the innocent in such a scenario, that Americans will refuse to be swayed by Orwellian language and choose instead to think for themselves and side with truth and humanity.
The team has set a fundraising goal of $50,000 but promises to go ahead with this project no matter how much the Indiegogo campaign raises due to the importance of the subject matter. Backers can choose from an array of excellent rewards, including a digital rental of the film for a $25 dollar donation, and opportunities to take a screenwriting class with Koji Steven Sakai himself or to be an extra in the film.
To learn more about the project or to donate, visit the project's Indiegogo page.
About The Filmmakers
Koji Steven Sakai has written five feature films, including the popular productions, The People I've Slept With and Monster & Me. His work has won numerous awards and has been featured in film festivals all over the world. Mustafa Rony Zeno is an LA-based filmmaker, photographer, and cultural anthropologist. Phinneas Kyomura is an actor and screenwriter, and a FIND Screenwriters Lab Fellow and an ABC Disney Writers Lab Fellow from Long Beach, California.
Filmmakers Launch Indiegogo Campaign for Important Film in Wake of Trump's Chilling Rhetoric