Today as I drive alone down highway 395 on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada along the length of California, I am reminded of a powerful film I had the privilege of seeing in the summer of 2021. It completely changed the way that I looked at this beautiful, harsh landscape and left me contemplating its messages even a year later. Filmmakers Ann Kaneko and Jin Yoo-Kim join producer Sarinah Simons for a deep dive into the empty lake-waters in Payahuunadü (Owens Valley) where Manzanar, the WWII concentration camp, becomes the confluence for memories of Payahuunadü, the now-parched “land of flowing water.” Intergenerational women from Native American, Japanese American and rancher communities form an unexpected alliance to defend their land and water from Los Angeles.

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