Museum accepts student film about Japanese relocation camp

Museum accepts student film about Japanese relocation camp

The Japanese American National Museum recently accepted into its permanent collection a student film that chronicles the experiences of Ruth Tamaki Beadles, a former Viewpoint School teacher, in a Japanese relocation camp in Arkansas. She and her family were sent there after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1942.

Elizabeth Acosta, a 2002 graduate of Viewpoint and a current USC film student, made "I Am Ruth Tamaki Beadles" during her senior year as a project for a filmmaking class. Another senior, Ronnie Beimel, composed the music for the documentary. That year the film premiered to acclaim and a grateful endorsement from Ruth Beadles at Viewpoint’s Alumni Day.

"This film will be a resource for future generations," she said. "Everyone has heard about Manzanar Relocation Center, but you don’t hear a lot about the other camps. This is our story, and any time I talk about it, I honor my parents. They endured it."

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