Download publicity stills for print: Credit line for all stills should read "From CONSCIENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION, produced by Frank Abe for the Independent Television Service, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

"The first day of the trial of the Heart Mountain draft resisters in Federal District Court, Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Mits Koshiyama (center, looking down) was 19 years old when this photo was taken on June 12, 1944."  (300 dpi, 3.1 MB)

"Frank Emi (right), leader of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, with supporter Kozie Sakai, in a 1944 photo taken at the height of the draft resistance movement." (300 dpi, 3.3 MB)

"Frank Emi (left) wartime leader of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, shares a story during production with producer/director Frank Abe. Photo by Brian Minami" (300 dpi, 3.0 MB) 

Headshot of producer/director Frank Abe (300dpi, 2.85 MB) and short bio

Official ITVS news release
Synopsis and capsule reviews
Awards and festival screenings 
Biographies of production crew and interview subjects

30-second streaming video trailer: 
Download this Quicktime movie (504 KB) produced by Carl Jacobs of Minneapolis, with the original theme, "A Different Battlefield," composed by Alan Koshiyama. 

Reviews

'Seattle Reads' screening (scroll down)
By Michael Upchurch
Seattle Times, March 24, 2005

Abe does a fine job of tracing how this draft-resistance arose, and how it became such a bitterly divisive issue within the Japanese-American community.

"Movie Review: Conscience and the Constitution"
by Naoko Shibusawa, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
The Journal of American History, Vol. 88, No. 3, December, 2001

"Documentary Brings Out The 'Rest of the Story'"
by Wayne Maeda 
Nichi Bei Times, December 15, 2000

"Documentary explodes myth about Japanese-American internment" 
by John Levesque,
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (published during labor strike as the Seattle Union Record) December 7, 2000

"Frank Abe doesn't ask much. He simply wants history teachers to stop filling their students' heads with misinformation about the “passive resignation” and “patriotic self-sacrifice” of Japanese Americans from the West Coast who were herded into concentration camps during World War II ... Well-written, artfully photographed (by Phil Sturholm) and beautifully narrated (by the poet Lawson Fusao Inada), “Conscience and the Constitution” is a worthy addendum to any American-history lesson."

"Film: Conscience and the Constitution" (scroll down)
by Linda Weber
Mother Jones magazine, November/December 2000

"The film clearly sympathizes with the 85 men who were jailed for draft evasion, yet deals evenhandedly with the hostility some Japanese Americans still harbor toward those who protested internment through civil disobedience."

"WGBH buries worthwhile documentary about internment of Japanese Americans"  (3 1/2 stars)
by Robin Washington 
Boston Herald, November 29, 2000

TV REVIEW: "Conscience and the Constitution"
by Sharon Maeda, General Board of Global Ministries web site
The United Methodist Church, November 27, 2000

"A must-watch for anyone interested in justice issues, World War II, the U.S. Constitution, or Asian American history ... Were it not for Frank Abe and his determination, this story might never have been aired."

"'Conscience and the Constitution' premieres at the VC FilmFest 2000"
by Greg Pak
AsianAmericanFilm.com News, May 23, 2000

Features and interviews

"Prisoners of Conscience"
by Heather McKinnon
Seattle Times, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000

"The Resisters" 
by Treena Shapiro
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 30, 2000

National Public Radio "All Things Considered" 
interview with Robert Siegel
November 30 (requires RealPlayer plug-in)

Streaming video clip from KCTS Connects
November 30, 2000 (requires RealPlayer plug-in)
For an interview by Enrique Cerna with Producer/Director Frank Abe and Minidoka resister Frank Yamasaki, move the slider 13 minutes and 30 seconds into the 29:15 minute show.  We appear after the glass harmonica player. 

"Draft protesters tell story of courage" 
by L.A. Chung
San Jose Mercury-News, November 28, 2000

"Loyal Opposition" 
by Kie Relyea
Bellingham Herald, November 14, 2000

"Film on Japanese-American Resisters"
By BART JONES
Associated Press Writer, May 22, 2000

LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Frank Abe was studying the history of World War II in high school, he never understood how 120,000 Japanese-Americans let themselves be herded into internment camps and held for years without putting up a fight.  Now he knows the answer — some did resist.

"Documentary honors interned resisters"
by JOE RODRIGUEZ
San Jose Mercury-News, August 4, 1999

FRANK ABE belongs to the original "model minority" -- Japanese-Americans. It's supposed to be a compliment, but my sansei friends gag whenever they hear it. Many Americans, I think, need to believe in the myth of an obedient and completely assimilated minority. Abe is out to destroy it.

See the news archive for more news stories about our documentary and about the Heart Mountain resistance.

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Updated: July 14, 2006