The Songbird of Manzanar

Music provided relief during the years of the Japanese American internment throughout WWII. Mary Nomura performed in Manzanar for the three years of her incarceration, and she became known as the "Songbird of Manzanar." In this film, Mary shares old field recordings of her musical performances in Manzanar, believed to be the only surviving field recordings of music from Japanese American internment. In the conclusion of the film, Mary honors her nickname and sings one of her favorite jazz standards by George Gershwin.

Documentary

The Songbird of Manzanar

Casting arrow_drop_down

Crew arrow_drop_down

arrow_drop_down

Similar Films

  • JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass
  • Voices From Inside The Towers
  • Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert
  • Disclosure
  • Phantoms of the Sierra Madre
  • Thin Lizzy: Rocker on the Loose
  • Our Vanishing Americana: A South Carolina Portrait
  • Annie Oakley
  • A Night at the Garden
  • Meeting David Wilson
  • History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige
  • FDR: A Presidency Revealed
  • Kit Carson
  • Double Solitaire
  • Children of the Camps
  • The World of the Seekers
  • The Musicians' Green Book: An Enduring Legacy
  • Remember

NextFilm 2025