JANM presents the premiere screening of the recently restored silent film The Oath of the Sword at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles. Once thought to be lost, this 1914 film by the Japanese American Film Company was recently rediscovered by scholar Denise Khor at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.
When Masao leaves Japan to study at UC Berkeley, he also leaves his lover, Hisa, who is caring for her ailing father. As Masao becomes an athletic star at Berkeley, Hisa languishes in Japan. When they reunite four years later, they discover that their lives are irrevocably and tragically changed.
Remarkable location photography lends an air of realism to this once-lost treasure, shown with live musical accompaniment by pianist, improviser, and composer Naomi Nakanishi.
Following the film, Renee Tajima-Peña, professor of Asian American Studies at UCLA, will moderate a panel discussion with Stephen Gong, executive director of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM); Karen Ishizuka, chief curator at JANM; and Denise Khor, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies and Visual Studies at Northeastern University.
The restoration was supported by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
About the Event
JANM presents the premiere screening of the recently restored silent film The Oath of the Sword at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles. Once thought to be lost, this 1914 film by the Japanese American Film Company was recently rediscovered by scholar Denise Khor at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.
When Masao leaves Japan to study at UC Berkeley, he also leaves his lover, Hisa, who is caring for her ailing father. As Masao becomes an athletic star at Berkeley, Hisa languishes in Japan. When they reunite four years later, they discover that their lives are irrevocably and tragically changed.
Remarkable location photography lends an air of realism to this once-lost treasure, shown with live musical accompaniment by pianist, improviser, and composer Naomi Nakanishi.
Following the film, Renee Tajima-Peña, professor of Asian American Studies at UCLA, will moderate a panel discussion with Stephen Gong, executive director of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM); Karen Ishizuka, chief curator at JANM; and Denise Khor, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies and Visual Studies at Northeastern University.
The restoration was supported by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
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Additional Images
Film still from The Oath of the Sword, 1914.
Preserved by the Japanese American National Museum with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Courtesy George Eastman Museum.
Film still from The Oath of the Sword, 1914.
Preserved by the Japanese American National Museum with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Courtesy George Eastman Museum.
Film still from The Oath of the Sword, 1914.
Preserved by the Japanese American National Museum with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Courtesy George Eastman Museum.
Film still from The Oath of the Sword, 1914.
Preserved by the Japanese American National Museum with support from the National Film Preservation Foundation. Courtesy George Eastman Museum.
Advertisement for The Oath of the Sword in in The Moving Picture World, October 10, 1914.
Courtesy Denise Khor.