Discussion Guide
Manzanar, Diverted Screening Guide
Film Summary & About This Guide
Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, Lone Pine Pauite-Shoshone TribeEvery mountain up here has a story behind it. Those are part of who we are and where we come from. If they come in and change the land, those stories become meaningless.
Film Summary
At the foot of the majestic snow-capped Sierras, Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp, becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the now-parched “land of flowing water.” Intergenerational women from Native American, Japanese American and rancher communities form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from the City of Los Angeles.
Filmed over five years, the documentary captures stunning and intimate imagery of Payahuunadü/Owens Valley, combined with archival gems and careful research to narrate this epic tale of the American West. It begins before colonizers came and then shows how the US Army and settlers forced out the Nüümü and Newe; how the LA Aqueduct sucked the Valley dry; how incarcerated Japanese Americans made the land green again; how Patsiata/Owens Lake became a health hazard and how this Valley now bears the pain of these stories and the consequences of losing water to diversion.
Using this Screening Guide
This resource created for Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust supports educational and community screenings. It encourages viewers to consider our responsibilities to our past and how we might confront and build a better future. How can you use this guide to build community as well as form coalitions with other communities?
Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, Lone Pine Pauite-Shoshone TribeEvery mountain up here has a story behind it. Those are part of who we are and where we come from. If they come in and change the land, those stories become meaningless.
Film Summary
At the foot of the majestic snow-capped Sierras, Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp, becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the now-parched “land of flowing water.” Intergenerational women from Native American, Japanese American and rancher communities form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from the City of Los Angeles.
Filmed over five years, the documentary captures stunning and intimate imagery of Payahuunadü/Owens Valley, combined with archival gems and careful research to narrate this epic tale of the American West. It begins before colonizers came and then shows how the US Army and settlers forced out the Nüümü and Newe; how the LA Aqueduct sucked the Valley dry; how incarcerated Japanese Americans made the land green again; how Patsiata/Owens Lake became a health hazard and how this Valley now bears the pain of these stories and the consequences of losing water to diversion.
Using this Screening Guide
This resource created for Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust supports educational and community screenings. It encourages viewers to consider our responsibilities to our past and how we might confront and build a better future. How can you use this guide to build community as well as form coalitions with other communities?