While growing up in suburban New Jersey, Chinese-American filmmaker Theresa Loong knew little about her father’s past. Then, one day she discovered his secret diary, written when he was a teenager and POW in a Japanese work camp during World War II. In it, he vowed to make “every day a holiday†if he ever survived. Told through her eyes, EVERY DAY IS A HOLIDAY tells the painful but life-affirming story of her father’s unlikely journey, from Chinese Malay teenager and Japanese POW, to merchant seaman, Veterans Affairs doctor and naturalized citizen of the country that liberated him: the United States. Using intimate conversations, rare archival footage and his wartime diary, the film traces how, through sheer strength of will, Paul Loong overcomes the horrors of war and obstacles as an immigrant, making “every day a holidayâ€.
- May 20, 2023 7pm – Every Day Is a Holiday and Theresa Loong at the Hoboken Historical Museum
- “Every Day Is a Holiday” Free Screening Nov 7, 6:30pm at the Clark Public Library!
- Nov 7 Screening in Fair Lawn!
- Free Screening and Q&A
- Games for Change – APIA narratives and creators – May 27
- Association for Asian Studies Film Expo, March 26
- Filmshop Exhibition Presents “Every Day Is a Holiday” 9/25, Filmmaker Discussion 7pm EST, Film Screening 8pm EST
- Free Screening 9/19 2pmEST!
- Free Online Screening of Every Day Is a Holiday
- Free Screening – D-Day and World War II Remembrance Program – “Hudson County: At Home and At War”