Did you know that the Hapa population is growing, not only in the United States, but also in Asia? A trio of filmmakers — Megumi Nishikura, Lara Perez Takagi, and Marcia Yumi Lise — is working on a feature-length documentary film, Hafu. From the Hafu website:
“Hafu” is the unfolding journey of discovery into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experience in modern day Japan. The film follows the lives of 5 “hafus”–the Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese–and by virtue of the fact that living in Japan, they are forced to explore what it means to be multiracial and multicultural in a nation that once proudly proclaimed itself as the mono-ethnic nation.
They have just wrapped up the filming, but need to raise a total of $10,000 to finish post-production. If you’d like to help out, you can donate online at IndieGoGo.
Meanwhile, check out this trailer for Hafu, which is scheduled to debut in 2012.
Looks like an interesting film!
I think it’s great that a project like this exists to build awareness – very interesting topic!
So good of you to support this :)
This sounds like a wonderful project, I hope they are able to meet their goal and distribute. I consider myself fortunate as I grew up hapa in the 80s in Hawaii where being multi-cultural was not only accepted but considered special. We always freely discussed our melting pot backgrounds. I never realized until I grew up and started working for an international company how other hapas from some areas on the mainland or in other countries were discriminated against or grew up thinking it was rude to ask or speak of someone’s ethnicity, for us if someone asks, they are showing an interest in you, not looking to judge. I did not have the issues about being hapa that others I had met did. Today is a different world…
Tania, Hawaii has always seemed like such a great place where cultures coexist so well. I’d like to hope that’s a foreshadow of what the rest of the US will look like in the future. Thanks for stopping by, Tania!