Jimmy Murakami: Non Alien

Irish-based animator Jimmy T. Murakami's credits as director include 'When the Wind Blows' and 'The Snowman'. He has received accolades (Oscar nominations and doctorates) across the world but there is one dark chapter in his life that he has never revealed until recently, during the making of this film. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour during World War 2, Japanese-American citizens like Jimmy (then eight years old) and his family were evacuated to a concentration camp called Tule Lake in the California desert, built specifically for this purpose. On the farcical basis that they were a threat to national security, Jimmy and his family, along with many thousands of other internees, were imprisoned for four years in the camp where they suffered many deprivations and where his young sister Sumiko died of leukemia. Jimmy, now in early retirement, decided to excavate this period of his life by creating a series of stunning paintings that illuminate his recollection of the evacuation of his family and life in a concentration camp as a young child.