(2010, 43.5 minutes)

"Stolen Memories" is a powerful documentary about memory, displacement, and the enduring impact of the Japanese-Canadian Internment. When filmmaker Kagan Goh discovers a 1930s Japanese photo album and a Samurai portrait in Vancouver in 1991, he begins a deeply personal quest to return these lost heirlooms to their rightful owners. Guided by community elder Mary Seki, Kagan's search leads him through Vancouver's Japantown and into the hidden histories and silences shaped by wartime trauma.

Along the way, Kagan consults with Reverend Orai Fujikawa, Japanese-Canadian history expert Midge Ayukawa and Roy Miki. Clues eventually point to the Ennyu family, specifically Mary Ennyu (now Mary Korb), and her sister, Kay Kamitakahara, the album's owner. Kagan travels to Toronto to meet Mary's son, Ron Korb, who provides insight into the historical trauma of the Japanese Internment.

Finally achieving the return of the album after over 60 years, the Kamitakahara family is offered a powerful reconnection with their past. For Kagan, the act of redressing a past wrong becomes a symbolic homecoming, one that affirms belonging, self-acceptance, wholeness and healing.

Director: Kagan Goh
Producers: Kagan Goh, Imtiaz Popat

For educational licensing (DSLs) and educational DVDs visit https://movingimages.ca/