Media

Daily screenings of the exhibition film short Mamo’s Weeds will be presented in the Terasaki Orientation Theater. The film and other shorts about Japanese American gardeners and their gardens are available on the exhibition DVD through the Museum Store.

Mamo’s Weeds

Terasaki Orientation Theater
Through January 6, 2008

This dramatic film tells the story of a kibei gardener besieged with a destructive weed epidemic and mysterious phone calls. Searching for answers, he travels from the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation to a retro Little Tokyo chop suey house to the lawns of Japanese American neighborhoods, only to discover that the weeds are keys to both his past and his future. Mamo’s Weeds, directed and produced by the Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center, features a screenplay by award-winning writer Naomi Hirahara and the talents of veteran actors Ken Takemoto, Sab Shimono, and Rodney Kageyama.

A special screening will be held on August 25, 2007, at 2:00 PM, followed by a panel discussion featuring Hirahara and director Akira Boch.

Read The Making of Mamo's Weeds: Mystery of an L.A. Gardener's Life by Naomi Hirahara on DiscoverNikkei.org to learn about the making of the film.

Beyond the Japanese Garden
- Short Stories and Documentaries

This DVD is a collection of media, stories, and artifacts from the exhibition. $19.95.

Features include:

  • Mamo's Weeds
  • Two documentaries - Sam (dir. Margaret Bach, 1971) and I Don't Think I Said Much (dir. Jeff Furumura, 1973), which provide rare glimpses into the lives of two Southern California Japanese American gardeners in the 1970s
  • Mini documentaries of Japanese American gardeners and gardens
  • Slide Show of historical artifacts and photographs from the Landscaping America exhibition
Total running time: 70 minutes

Click here to purchase it through the Museum Store Online