FILM SHOWING! “Beyond the Barbed Wire: Japanese Americans in Minnesota,” is a film made by faculty and students at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Filmmakers Ka Wong and Hikari Sugisaki will be available to answer questions following the screening. The film focuses on the Japanese American experience in Minnesota during World War II. Although most Japanese Americans lived on the West Coast of the United States in the 1940s, a small population settled in Minnesota. While the government sent West Coast Japanese Americans to concentration camps like Heart Mountain, these Minnesotans were allowed to stay in their homes. Nonetheless, these individuals also faced wartime discrimination. Although they couldn’t return home, Japanese Americans at the camps were permitted to seek jobs and education in the Midwest. During this “resettlement,” many more Japanese Americans moved to Minnesota. St. Olaf College became a popular destination for students who graduated high school in the camps. “Beyond the Barbed Wire” also relates the experiences of these people and their efforts to rebuild their lives in the North Star State.