About 100TH FILM

Filmmakerʻs Statement

THE 100TH, Seeds of Aloha is a feature-length documentary about the extraordinary men of Hawaiʻi’s 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, whose courage and sacrifice carried them from a nation that questioned their loyalty to some of the fiercest battlefields of World War II. The 100th suffered such devastating casualties that war correspondents called them the “Purple Heart Battalion.” Together, these Japanese American soldiers would become part of one of the most decorated units in U.S. military history.

But this isn’t simply a story about war.

It is a story about what these men carried into war—and what they brought home.

Coming off SHAKA, A Story of Aloha, I wasn’t looking to make a war film. In fact, I didn’t think I was the right person to tell one. But several veterans kept after me. They believed their story had never been adequately told and that important parts of it were still misunderstood or missing.

Eventually, I started poking around.

The more I learned, the more intrigued I became. I spoke with veterans, descendants, historians and military experts. I read their letters and listened to their stories. And eventually, I waved the white flag.

The vets were right.

What I discovered was an extraordinary American story—but also a profoundly Hawaiʻi story.

These young men went to war carrying values they had learned at home: loyalty, humility, service, caring for one another and a willingness to sacrifice for something larger than themselves. We recognize many of those values today as expressions of the Aloha Spirit.

That became the film I wanted to make.

Rather than simply recount battles, I wanted to understand what drove these men to do what they did—and what happened to that spirit after the war was over.

Our journey took us back across the battlefields of Italy, France and Germany, where something unexpected kept surfacing. In places liberated more than 80 years ago, people still remember these soldiers. Families still tell their stories. Friendships formed during war have survived generations. Acts of kindness planted in terrible circumstances continue to bear fruit today.

Then the men came home and planted even more seeds.

They educated themselves, built businesses and institutions, supported the families of fallen comrades, served their communities, fought discrimination and helped transform Hawaiʻi’s civic and political landscape. Others reached back across the Pacific with relief and reconciliation. Men who had witnessed some of humanity’s worst moments devoted much of the rest of their lives to building something better.

That is why we call the film Seeds of Aloha.

The challenge in telling this story has been enormous. Eight decades of history are filled with differing memories, incomplete records and stories that have sometimes been simplified through repeated telling. From the beginning, our priority has been to listen—to veterans, families, military experts, historians and the communities in Europe that still preserve this history.

We have approached the film with an open door and an open mind: research deeply, record what we can, invite scrutiny, and keep refining the story as new information emerges. It has taken an extraordinary team—literally an army of veterans, descendants, historians, military experts, organizations, nonprofits, government agencies and community members—to help us tell it with the accuracy, nuance and reverence these men deserve.

I am profoundly grateful for that trust.

Iʻm also grateful to have an amazing team of artists on this project who have worked tirelessly and 100% collaboratively headed by cinematographer Alexander Bocchieri, editor Deborah Miller, music directors Harold Payne and David Kopatz and animator Karen Brizendine. Associate producers and ID8 Board Members Cynthia Yamasaki, Emari Hunn, Rebecca Teresia, Johanna Tokunaga and Frances Quinlan (who also is the lead vocalist on “Eyeʻs of a Friend”). Additional lead vocalists include Brian Yamamoto and Kristle Kay Louis Backe.

More than 80 years after the war, I believe the time is right to tell this story not only with reverence and gratitude, but also with an eye toward healing.

The veterans taught us something remarkably relevant to the world today. Even in a time defined by fear, prejudice, division and war, people can choose courage over fear, service over self-interest, connection over division and aloha over hatred.

Near the ends of their lives, some veterans wondered whether their stories would disappear with them.

I’m honored to help make sure they don’t.

My hope is that THE 100TH, Seeds of Aloha does more than preserve their history. I hope their courage becomes our inheritance, their example inspires our actions, and the seeds of aloha they planted continue to grow for generations to come.

Shaka Steve, (Steve Sue) Producer & ID8 Chairperson

ID8 is a Honolulu-based 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization that fosters ideation and expression to create positive impacts. Key programs include Global Aloha, a movement to empower acts of aloha.