OUR MISSION

Our mission is to help people from diverse communities bring their perspectives powerfully to bear on public dialogues about a broad range of social issues that affect their lives. We use film, arts and other media as tools to educate and engage people, as well as to amplify the voices of those whose perspectives are not usually heard.

Many Threads is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization.

NEW PROJECTS

I GIVE YOU TO THESE KIND WATERS

In this 56-minute, broadcast-length film, Lina Hoshino, an award-winning filmmaker, will turn the camera onto herself, revisiting her own past abortion through participating in a Buddhist ritual (the “Mizuko Kuyo” or “water baby” ritual) of dedicating “Jizo” to the aborted fetus. In this ritual, the unformed child is consecrated to the protection of a guardian spirit and returned, in the cycle of life, to the divine, oceanic region outside worldly existence. The filmmaker undertakes this journey at a turning point in her own life, having decided, at age 40, not to have children. Pursuing this ritual is, for her, a way to deal with her own reproductive decisions through a collective practice that allows for a sense of loss without judgment or punishment, while honoring and celebrating life. She does so through the lens of her own multi-cultural heritage and partly Buddhist roots, reflecting on how her ancestors treated abortion and on her involvement with the pro-choice movement in the U.S. during the 1980s.

LEAP OF FAITH

This 20-minute documentary tells a little-known story of young white Christian teenagers who put their bodies on the line to protect Sebastopol’s Japanese Buddhist temple, Enmanji, from hate-related arson and vandalism during WWII. This project has received a generous support from California Council for the Humanities.