Samurai in the Oregon Sky with Ilana Sol

Filmmaker Ilana Sol presents her film, Samurai in the Oregon Sky, and joins us for a post-viewing question and answer session with LOPL librarian Todd Feinman, Pat Ginn from Respond to Racism and Greg Oberst who is in the film.

In 1942, Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita catapulted his seaplane off of a submarine, flew over the Oregon coast, and became the only pilot to bomb the U.S. mainland during WWII.  He never dreamed he would one day be invited back to the region, where he would begin a lifelong friendship with the people of a small Oregon town.  SAMURAI IN THE OREGON SKY chronicles how Mr. Fujita came to refer to his former target as his “second home.”

Ilana Sol is a filmmaker and archival researcher living in Portland, Oregon. She has worked in the film industry for over 20 years on a variety of independent, educational, and commercial projects. She enjoys searching through old documents in libraries and archives to find important stories that have been lost to time, and her work is a result of this. She has conducted archival research for multiple documentaries including THE WINDING STREAM, BIG JOY, QUEEN OF THE SUN, and for exhibits at the Smithsonian and the Oregon Historical Society. Her first film ON PAPER WINGS won 7 awards and was included in an episode of NPR’s Radiolab. SAMURAI IN THE OREGON SKY is her second film.  

This program is presented in grateful partnership with Lake Oswego's Respond to Racism organization. Thanks to the Friends of Lake Oswego Public Library and Respond to Racism for sponsoring this event. 

Registration required. Please email tfeinman@lakeoswego.city with any questions.