Zang Pictures Presents

"You fought not only the enemy, but you fought prejudice -- and you won. Keep up that fight, and we will continue to win -- to make this great Republic stand for what the Constitution says it stands for... "
- President Harry S Truman

"We are privileged to properly honor the heroic actions of these brave soldiers,"
- Louis Caldera,Ê Secretary of the Army

Synopsis

This feature length film centers on Brandon Ikaika Lanosa, a prominent civil rights attorney, and his boyhood relationship with Takeo Tanabe, and store owner who had been a decorated WWII hero from the 100th infantry of the legendary 442nd Battalion. Brandon relives his experiences with Mr. Tanabe when he is asked to return to Hawaii to give the opening remarks at the 40th anniversary for the 442nd.

Once obstinately determined and unapproachable, the young Brandon learns that life does not always lead to a dead end. Mr. Tanabe relates his own experiences in the war. Their respect for each other develops into a father/son relationship that brings Brandon out of his usual mode of thinking about the world around him.

Several little known historical battles are related to the boy such as the liberation of the Holocaust victims from Dachau, the liberation of the town of Biffontaine, France, and the rescue of the Lost Battalion-- an effort which was considered impossible to achieve-- saving the lives of two-hundred and eleven soldiers from the 77th Battalion from Texas. In this battle, the 442nd suffered more than eight hundred casualties and over two hundred KIA (killed in action). In this rescue, Takeo lost his best friend to a land mine and witnessed the killing of several of his good friends. Tanabe illustrates the frustration and determination of fighting in WWII as a Japanese-American, who had been interned at Tule Lake, to gain his honor not only for his country but for himself.

In present day Honolulu, Brandon relates his story, as it had been influenced by the late Takeo Tanabe, to the surviving members of the 442nd. He illustrates his life as a Hawaiian, re-defining the idea of America and reclaiming his honor as an American; things he had learned as a boy from an ordinary Japanese-American hero named Takeo Tanabe.

This film is not yet cast

Zang Pictures, Inc. is currently

seeking funding for this project

HAWAII SLAM: POETRY IN PARADISE