“This extraordinary film breaks new ground by reconstructing the story of the lay-down strike at the Tule Lake Jail in the waning days of the Segregation Center in 1945...a remarkable act of historical recovery.”
—Frank Abe, Author of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration
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—Satsuki Ina, Psychotherapist, Author, Filmmaker, Activist
“…an amazing, healing film that will change people’s lives.”
—Brandon Shimoda, Award-winning Poet
“I watched Defiant to the Last — it’s astonishing… The lay-down strike is so moving and profound, so empowering, so enraging and sad, so inspiring, all at once — And the way it’s presented is incredible. I felt like I was holding my breath through much of it, absolutely rapt... Thank you for illuminating, so vividly and precisely, this moment, these moments, in history. I like thinking of Rabbit in the Moon and Defiant to the Last (Defiant Rabbit?) complementing each other, and manifesting the evolution of the story, what is told and how…”
—Canyon Sam, Author of Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History
“What an incredible film! A quiet, powerful work portraying an unknown piece of the internment history — a story that can inspire generations of civil rights activists to come in the dignity, courage and peaceful but stone hard conviction of citizens protesting their own government. Their stripping down and wearing white for their lay-down protest made them kind of spiritual warriors. I hope a lot of people get to see this piece, because it can reverse long-held misconceptions of the Tule Lake internees and allow these men to be embraced as front line warriors against the duplicitous Goliath of the U.S. government.”